Flashback the Sequel to Stolen Angel
by risenfromash
Summary: After Vera's kidnapping, a flashback lands Vera in the hospital where she questions whether she can function in the "real world" Apollo and Nick/Maya, Trucy, Ema, Klavier must convince Vera to come home NOW COMPLETE, SPOILERS for AJ
1. Chapter 1

Risenformash: This is the Sequel to "Stolen Angel". If you've stayed away from the other story because it's in the mature section you should know there is nothing explicit in it just allusions to things, peril, and language and I've been encouraged to rerate it as T for teen, but I haven't just to be on the safe side. His story will have the f-word once. I think you can handle I, but be forewarned . You know how my Apollo talks!

_Previously in the Polly/Vera story arc…_

Vera Misham was put on trial for some of the multiple forgeries she had created. Due to her guilty conscience she was less than helpful to Apollo in his struggle to defend her and he lost the case. She was placed under house arrest and moved into an apartment above the Wright Anything Agency and Justice Defense Company with Phoenix Wright as the "overseer" of her arrest. They often refer to this arrangement as Nick being Vera's guardian. Apollo and Vera started a relationship without traditional dates since she can't leave the building. One night she was abducted and it took the family along with Detective Skye's held almost a week to get her back.

I had made a promise to Spark that he would get an exclusive interview with Vera and me if he helped with the investigation during her kidnapping and even though Spark's work for me had proved to be a dead lead I was true to my word. IT was a little awkward telling Vera that I had volunteered her for this without talking to her about it first, but she had been gone and she knew I had been desperate to do or try anything to get her back ok.

So about a month after Vera returned to us we had Spark over to our apartment. It was still a little weird calling it "our" apartment, since Vera had never really invited me to move in. I had moved in "temporarily" to keep her company after the stress of her abduction, but then I'd never left. I had felt like maybe I should sit down with her and ask if she wanted me to leave, if I was "dismissed," but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Vera was my world. Granted it was a small world, one little one bedroom apartment with lavender walls and the smell of herbal tea and pencil shavings, but it was home. Or at least I felt that way. Sure, it didn't look like I lived there. Other than my dirty coffee mugs in the sink and my stinky sneakers in a corner of the closet the place was really Vera's but I felt home there because we were together.

Vera was sitting on the couch deeply absorbed in drawing something when I woke up that morning. I wasn't sure if she had been up all night or just happened to wake up before me. Thank god I'm a deep sleeper or Vera's constant nighttime activities might mean death to our relationship.

"Morning." I said drowsily stumbling into the kitchen to make coffee.

"Good morning. I'm glad you're awake. Did you forget Mr. Brushel is coming today?"

I had forgotten. I mean I had remembered yesterday, but my appointments weren't the first things that popped into my mind that morning. The first thing I thought when I woke up that morning was…um…more enjoyable.

Vera was dressed in jeans and a purple and pink tie-died t-shirt. Her blue hair was tied back with her usual bandana. She looked absolutely gorgeous even better than she had in my dream the night before.

"Crap! That's today…" I said as much to myself as to her. I was kind of looking forward to a day without anything to do. Trucy and I had been working our butts off the last week on a couple of insane cases and what with helping Phoenix study for the bar exam I was feeling the need for a day of…relaxation.

Vera giggled.

"You should make your coffee extra strong this morning. I don't think you're really awake yet."

My brain might not have been awake, but there was another part of me that certainly was. I sighed. We still weren't making love. We were taking things slow since Vera got back, too bad only my brain had figured that out.

"Remind me again what time Spark's supposed to be here." I said fiddling with the coffee maker. It was really a piece of crap, but since Vera doesn't drink coffee I couldn't see spending money on a better one. I mean **technically** this one worked. It just kind of sucked.

"He should…be…here…in…about…an…hour." She answered, her words oddly separated by her concentration on the sketch she was working on.

I came over to sit next to her on the sofa.

"Vera, I'm really sorry about this. I wish I hadn't promised to him…"

"Polly, please quit apologizing. It's not that big a deal. I'm just a little embarrassed about having an article about our relationship in the paper."

I nodded. It wasn't unusual for attorneys to get their names in the paper, especially with some of the bizarre cases people like Mr. Wright and I tended to take, but Vera was an amazingly prolific artist and her mastery of so many different styles had made her a celebrity and the fact she was also the creator of some of the world's most convincing forgeries was only adding to people's fascination with her.

The whole thing made me kind of nervous. Her kidnapping had called attention to where she lived and our relationship. There was no way I was moving back downstairs. No way! Nobody was going to hurt her again. The image of her swollen lip and bruised face after her rescue would always be in the back of my mind. There was still a part of me that wished I could line her kidnappers up beat the shit out of them and then have a firing squad finish them off. Not that I have a problem with the fact they'll be living comfortably in little cells with more dignity than they afforded her with meals and proper facilities like flushing toilets provided for them. No problem at all…

"Whatcha drawing today?"

"Your nasty shoes littering our beautiful rug."

I looked over at where her gaze is and see that I've left my sneakers in a heap right in the walkway of the living room. I guess I'm not as good about putting them in the corner of the closet as I thought.

"Oh…ah sorry."

"It's ok. Your poor housekeeping inspired me."

She turned her drawing pad toward me to display for me a beautifully drawn rendition of my shoes.

"Very nice. I'm glad my sloven nature has contributed to your Mona Lisa."

I smiled at her and she set the drawing pad and her pencil on the floor and wrapped her arms around me and kissed me. I closed my eyes thinking maybe she was well enough again…maybe things were stable enough…I started leaning into her and then the coffee pot beeped and startled both of us so badly we both jumped. I guess, we were both still a little traumatized…


	2. Chapter 2

**Risenfromash: Hi, everyone. I haven't gotten any reviews on this yet so let me know what you think… I know not a lot has happened yet…but it's always nice to hear from you **

Mr. Brushel arrived right on time and Vera greeted him warmly. Spark seemed very pleased to be getting to see the inner workings of our life. I saw him scan the apartment, his nose twitching with the challenge of determining the most engaging angle in which to present our story. He glanced at Vera's interior decorating and her half finished paintings in the corner. I wouldn't be surprised if he was looking for some hint of my style in the apartment's motif, but, of course, it wasn't there.

We made some small talk and then gathered around the little kitchen table to be interviewed. Vera sat down to my right and Spark sat on the other side of the table facing me.

"I'm going to get myself a cup of tea. You want anything?" She said speaking to the two of us as she stood.

"A cup of coffee would be great, Vera. You don't mind if I call you that do you?"

Vera stepped into the kitchen. "No, of course not what else would you call me? Besides you're a friend. Polly told me how you helped out while I was…gone. I really appreciate it."

"Reporter contributes little to search for missing artist. UNQUOTE."

I shrugged. "Well, someone had to investigate the art exhibit angle. We were missing the concept that someone might want Vera's talents for political purposes." I cringed.

_Damn Freedom Party people what freedom could a political party run by the mob offer?_

Vera walked up to the table with two coffee mugs and one of her fancy bone china teacups on a serving tray. First, she set her teacup with its saucer down and then she handed Spark his mug and then I grabbed mine while still conversing with Spark.

"So, how much have the two of you been following the collapse of the party?" He asked us as I brought the coffee to my lips.

**"Don't drink it, Polly!!"** Vera screamed.

And she knocked the cup out of my hand spilling hot coffee all over me, the table, the floor and probably all over Spark, too. Though, I was so busy hopping up both from the shock and from the heat of the hot liquid on my body that I didn't even notice if Spark was covered, too. All I saw as I jumped up, the only thing I was focused on was Vera. Her eyes were growing large and fixed and then they rolled back as her entire body tipped backward falling to the floor. She was stiff as a board. It was just like when she had collapsed in court after implicating Kristoph Gavin in the murder of her father.

Spark and I descended upon her calling her name and trying to get her to respond, but all that happened was that her eyes kind of rolled around. Her arms were also stiff and her fingers had curled themselves into strange gnarls. Laying there on her back in such an unnatural position she reminded me of a shriveled up dead spider.

"Reporter calls ambulance. UNQUOTE."

I nodded.

I knew first aid, but if it hadn't been for Spark I don't know what I would have done. I was way too freaked out to be of much use. Spark talked to the dispatcher on the phone and he relayed the woman's instructions to me. I checked Vera's color and her pulse and breathing but there was nothing I could do even if she'd been turning blue. I suspect that Spark and the dispatcher were simply trying to give me something to do so I wouldn't panic.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before the paramedics arrived. A team of three men and one woman attempted to talk to Vera and they hooked small medical gadgets to her to check whatever it is they access on people. Like I said, I was freaking out and I think Spark was, too. He was madly tugging at his tie and wrapping it around his face the way he does when he gets nervous on the witness stand. We were both terrified that she might have been poisoned again and we shouted our fears to the first responders, but they assured us that it wasn't that serious.

"She's had a severe panic attack. We're going to take her to the hospital and give her some medicine to calm her down."

"You sure?" I ranted. "I mean the last time she was poisoned the atroquinine was hidden in her nail polish. You can't assume the obvious. We have enemies and she's famous and-"

One EMT was trying patiently to reassure me while the others worked with Vera.

"Sir, she's going to be ok. We're going to take her in the ambulance and you can come with us if you calm down. Take a deep breath. My team's taking good care of her."

I didn't mean to be skeptical. I was just super stressed. The last time she'd been in this state it had freaked me out, too, but then she had just been a client. Now she was…well everything to me.

Spark put his hand on my shoulder.

"Boyfriend has trouble accepting diagnosis. UNQUOTE."

I looked at him. He was right. I needed to be more trusting, but I'd already come close to losing her multiple times what if our luck was running out? What if? The thoughts were too horrible to contemplate.

"Famous artist, Drew Misham, relives father's murder. UNQUOTE."

I nodded. Of course she would pull through this. What was I thinking? They said it was only anxiety, right? But I felt in my heart something that I'd been fighting with while she was kidnapped. A feeling that our futures were linked. The bond between us had grown very strong and I felt like my life would be shattered if something happened to her. I was ceasing to be able to function on my own without her. My world revolved around her. What was it Romeo says about Juliet being his sun? Yeah, it was getting to be like that and when your sun suddenly keels over and threatens to go out that seems like the perfect time to panic to me.

They were stretchering her out of our apartment and I was feeling faint and rather nauseous, but Spark shoved me toward the door. "Go with her in the ambulance. I'll meet you at the hospital."

I nodded and walked behind the EMTs in a kind of horrified daze. I heard Spark mutter to himself, "Love struck attorney finds it challenging to be with emotionally traumatized artist. UNQUOTE"

_You got that right, Spark. You got that right._


	3. Chapter 3

Risenfromash: So, I haven't had any reviews on this yet so if you are reading it..thanks. They'll be some good Trucy/Polly scenes and Phoenix/Apollo scenes in future…

I was sitting leaning against the cold wall of the hospital waiting room wishing that I could sleep, but unable to shut my worries off long enough. Spark had waited with me for as long as he could, but he had another appointment to get to. He had left telling me he'd call later in the day to check in. Being alone at the hospital only emphasized to me how much Vera and I belonged together. It had gotten to be where I didn't do well alone. I was used to company and it was with great relief that I heard a friendly voice and opened my eyes.

"Polly! I got your message and came right over. How is she?"

I shrugged. "I don't really know anything yet." I stood up and Maya greeted me with a big hug, but as I pulled away she grabbed my shirt and pawed at it.

"What's all over you?"

I forgot that I was still soaked in coffee. Luckily for Maya it was mostly dry because I'd been waiting so long.

"Spark came over to interview us and Vera served us some coffee. You know how she is…always the perfect hostess, and then she must have had a flashback-"

"To her dad."

"Yeah, I was so stupid. I didn't even notice, Maya. Everything was the same. I studied testimonies and diagrams of the crime scene, but I didn't even notice Spark and I had practically recreated it exactly…how could I not have realized?"

Maya looked at me with sympathy and said, "Polly, don't feel bad. I'm sure it will be ok. I'll call Nick and see if he can bring you some clean clothes for you to change into."

"Yeah, where is he? I thought you two were attached at the hip these days."

"Only when you and Trucy aren't around." She said waggling her eyebrows.

I groaned. "That wasn't what I meant."

Maya smiled naughtily. "I know, but it's such a nice mental image."

"For you maybe," I grumbled. I was jealous. It had been easy to be celibate before I had a girlfriend, but now I marveled how I had ever survived. I wanted Vera all the time. It was enough to drive me insane…but I knew this taking it thing recommended by her psychiatrist probably wasn't easy for her either. I mean, this is the girl who lead me to my bed our second night together when I was trying everything to stop myself from coming onto her.

Maya wrapped her arms around me and pulled my head to her shoulder.

"It'll all be ok."

"I just keep thinking she's better, you know? But she's really not, is she?"

"Vera's been through a lot, but I know she's going to fight to get to feeling better, especially since she has you in her life. She's crazy about you."

_Maya, that's perhaps not the best choice of words right now._

"Try not to worry so much. I'm sure you'll get an update soon and before you know it we'll all be back home. She probably just needs a new medication or something."

"She's not on anything."

"Oh!" Maya exclaimed a little awkwardly as though she believed she'd said something improper.

"Vera hates the thought of medications messing with her head. She thinks it might change who she is or her artistic ability and stuff." Vera was a girl who did not like taking the easy way out and she had chosen to attempt to muscle through a lot of her emotional issues rather than take medication. I could see her point, but diabetics take insulin, right? If she had a disorder shouldn't she do what the doctor recommended? I mean, wasn't that part of the whole reason we were taking things slow…

"I can understand that. It's kind of scary thinking about a pill changing who you are, but I don't think it's really like that at all."

"Well, maybe she'll reconsider since she obviously had no choice today…"

"Here hold my ball of yarn."

I hadn't realized that Maya was trying to teach herself how to knit. I sighed and held the ball of blue yarn as Maya attempted to distract me with other topics, but I really wasn't paying attention.

"Polly…Polly!" Maya was tugging at the yarn. I had been clutching it too tightly.

"Sorry," I muttered and relaxed my grip. The yarn was wet with my sweat, but Maya didn't say anything.

"You understand that what's going on with Vera isn't your fault, right?

"That's just it. I don't really know what's going on nobody's told me anything yet."

"Polly, you listen to me. I know you love Vera very much, but you need to remember that just cause she's your special someone doesn't mean you can make her better. Your job is just to be there for her."

"Well, the hospital is doing a bang up job of not letting me even do that," I grumbled.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Later Phoenix and Trucy met us at the hospital. Trucy greeted me by flinging her arms around me and kissing my cheek.

"I'm so sorry, Polly. What's the news?"

"They haven't told me anything yet. The EMTs said it was a panic attack. At first, Spark and I both thought she'd been poisoned again. She looked like she was dying or having some kind of seizure or something." I shook my head attempting to dislodge the horrible image from my memory.

Trucy had brought me a change of clothes so I went into the men's room and changed. When I got back Trucy was in the midst of putting on an impromptu magic show for a family waiting to hear news about their great-uncle who might have had a heart attack. From her magic panties she pulled out a silk flower and gave it to them insisting that they take it to their sick relative as soon as they were able to visit him.

They were very grateful to her and told her that they knew Uncle Ernie would be very excited to hear about her magic panties. I laughed on the inside hoping that they didn't give Uncle Ernie another heart attack. I know the phrase "magic panties" makes my heart jump every time I hear it even though by now I should know better.

But still we got no word on Vera's condition. Phoenix and Maya pestered the staff for an update to no avail so Phoenix tried to get me interested in playing cards and Trucy read us information from the newspaper like she was our own news network, but after a couple hours of this we were all getting tense. Every time someone in scrubs or a white jacket came by we'd all look up and start to convince ourselves they were coming our direction. In fact, anytime anyone walked by we stared.

That was how come I happened to notice Dr. Jonas walk by.

"Hey, hey, is that you?" I'm not a huge fan of Vera's psychiatrist, but only because I see his job as being to find flaws with the way Vera's mind behaves or her coping skills and frankly I don't like thinking that anything with Vera isn't right. Yeah, she's got problems, but so does everybody else, right?

"Dr. Jonas, is that you?" I shoved Truce off my lap and bolted from my chair. I had to dash after him as he was walking at a fast pace and seemed to be intentionally ignoring me. "Hey, excuse me." I said putting my hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, Mr. Justice. How are you today?"

What a douche bag! What does he expect, my catchphrase here?! Well, guess what I'm not fine. NOT fine at all!!!

_Tell me what the hell is going on with Vera or I swear to God…_

"I'm kind of upset actually." I was incredibly impressed with the collected way I managed to say this. "Were you here to meet with Vera?"

"Well, that's privileged information."

"I'm going to take that as a yes. See, my family and I have been sitting out her for…" I read the time on my cell phone. "Three and a half hours and we haven't been told what's going on yet. Now, if you don't want to tell me fine, but Mr. Wright is her guardian and he needs to know what's going on. He has to report stuff like this to her parole officer."

Phoenix took my hint and came and stood by me awaiting an update.

Dr. Jonas's lips thinned into a fine white line.

"Mr. Justice, your impassioned concern for Ms. Misham aside, it is really not your place to be seeking updates on her condition."

"What?!?!"

Trucy flew to me and stood behind me holding both of my hands. To some it might have seemed a friendly supportive gesture, but I knew what she was doing. She was holding me back. She knew I wanted to smack this guy.

"I live with her for God's sake! She's my girlfriend. What do you expect me to do? Just shrug off the fact she just got hauled out of our apartment by EMTs?"

Phoenix was shooting me his usual calm-the-hell-down-Apollo look and I rolled my eyes. Why did no one understand?

"Dr. Jonas, I don't understand why you won't update Apollo on her condition. Please, all of us would feel much more calm if we could at least be told whether or not she is stable and going to be ok."

_Sure, Phoenix make me look like the crazy one. I guess if we have to play good-cop bad-cop we can…_

"Dr. Jonas, surely you recall that Vera considers us her family now that her father has passed away."

_He better remember that. If not he must be sleeping through that one-hour session he has with her once a week._

"Fine, I can tell you because you're her guardian. She's been transferred to the Sunny River Mental Health Facility. It's in the north district."

Phoenix nodded, his face betrayed no emotions, but I noticed he didn't thank Dr. Jonas for the information.

"Well, I really must be going now. I have other patients to attend to."

After I was sure Dr. Jonas was out of earshot I announced, "I hate that guy."

"Polly, you shouldn't say that. He helps Vera." Trucy scolded.

"Does he? I'm not convinced of that. I have no evidence that any of that man's dealings with her do anything but cause **me** more anxiety. I think he just wastes her time. We do better at helping her than he does." I ranted.

"Apollo, we aren't shrinks. We're attorneys- well you're an attorney," said Phoenix humbly. "Come on. Let's get a cab and go over to Sunny River. Hopefully they'll tell us more over there."

On the ride to Sunny River I complained about how the hospital could have the gall to transfer Vera without even informing us, but my mutterings got so annoying to the others that Maya punched me and told me that I wasn't helping the situation and to please for the love of God shut up. This made Phoenix so grateful that he gazed adoringly at her for too long and they started smooching, which made me want to hit them both.

The Sunny River Mental Health Facility was made up of two buildings a scary looking sanitarium that I swore ghosts would hold a convention at and a newer more welcoming building. I found myself praying that Vera was in the more friendly looking part of the facility because the other one scared the shit out of me and I wasn't sure I could go in there even with Trucy and Mr. Hat by my side.

"Phoenix, why don't you go first and get some info. Maybe they'll be more likely to tell you stuff if they don't know I'm with you."

"Polly, quit being so conspiratorial," Trucy ordered. "They aren't out to separate you from her or something. There's just trying to adhere to privacy laws."

I groaned. "Yes, Trucy. I'm aware of privacy laws I'm an ATTORNEY! But they have Vera and I want to know what the fuck is going on!!"

"Polly, please watch your language. You're damaging my virgin ears." Maya said. Virgin ears my ass. I know she's all over Nick as soon as my back is turned. Weren't they just making out in the cab? Ok, in retrospect it was only a little kiss…but I was kind of sensitive about stuff like that at the time. Anything vaguely romantic reminded me of Vera and how much I wanted to be with her again and know that she was going to be ok.

"All of you. Shut up and quit fighting. I'm going in. I'll be back in a couple minutes. Try not to kill yourselves while I'm gone ok?" Phoenix ordered. It was rare for Mr. Wright to shout at us, but we were all super tense. He's like a second father to Vera and I knew that while he was playing it cool he was probably just as furious as I was about all this bureaucratic bullshit. The bottom line was that they had Vera and they weren't telling us what was going on and they weren't letting us see her and that was not ok with any of us.

Maya gave Nick a kiss on the cheek and said, "Ai, ai, captain. I'll make sure Polly behaves himself."

I groaned again. I'm always the one getting picked on, especially now that I'm with Vera. They find it hilarious that I get all goofy around her and endlessly amusing how I gaze at her and her artwork and how I love everything about her and how I blush when she kisses me in front of other people.

_Vera, please be ok, sweetie…_

Phoenix reappeared and we immediately mobbed him for an update.

"Well, I have some good news. Vera is here. She is doing better. They had to give her some IV medication to calm her down, but she's awake and doing better and will probably be ready to have visitors in the next hour or so." I felt a huge weight lifted from me. She was going to be fine and soon I'd get to see her. Just hearing that much was such a relief to me I felt like I could exhale for the first time since she collapsed.

_Thank you, God! I know she's way too good a person to be with someone like me, but please continue to take care of her for me until I can take her back home, ok?_

"Wonderful. Let's just stay here until she's ready for visitors." Maya suggested and we all agreed that seemed like the most reasonable plan since it took nearly an hour to get here by bus from our place anyways. So, while Phoenix ordered us all some food at a deli on the corner of the block I headed across the street to the florist to get something to give Vera.

I hadn't eaten all day and it was getting to be dinnertime so I was extremely grateful when they handed me a ham and cheese sub.

"Thanks," I said unwrapping it and taking a huge bite.

"A white rose? Very classy." Trucy said glancing at the flower I'd set on the table.

"Yeah, well I hope Vera thinks so because I can't afford a bouquet."


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

We were sitting in the lobby of the mental hospital waiting for someone to come out and speak with us. Finally a person approached.

"This must be the Wright family, am I **right**?"

_Oh, great a comedian._

I saw Phoenix's nose and lips twitch in irritation. Obviously, he felt this was the wrong time for puns as much as I did.

"I'm Mr. Wright. This is Maya and my daughter Trucy and this is Vera's boyfriend, Apollo."

"Great, I'm Dr. Rench. Well, let me just update you on Ms. Misham's condition."

_FINALLY._

"Vera's had a severe panic episode today triggered by her post-traumatic-stress disorder. Most likely to prevent other episodes she will need to take medications, but we'll see how she does. Right now she is relaxing in a private room. It's very important for her to take it easy, but we're here 24 hours a day. She can page us if she feels another panic attack coming on."

"Great." Said Phoenix. "So, can we see her?"

"Well, let me just check if she is ready for visits. Just a moment."

This proved to be a very long moment and, in fact, it was an entirely different staff member who came back to bring us our answer. This woman appeared to be a nurse or medical assistant of some kind and seemed to move at a much faster and more efficient pace than the doctor had. There would be no puns from her I suspected.

"Ms. Misham is requesting to see…" she looked down at a clipboard. I was already starting to stand. "Mr…Phoenix."

"What?!"

Phoenix stood awkwardly and said, "You mean the Wright family, correct? All of us" Nick waved his hand in a circle as if his vocabulary wasn't sufficient to explain that he meant the entirety of our group, all four of us…the rest of Vera's unofficial adoptive family.

"Nooo, she has specifically requested that only Mr. Phoenix Wright come see her."

I felt like I'd been hit head-on by a truck. Vera didn't want to see me? Was she mad at me? Had those shots they gave her make her have amnesia and forget I was in love with her? What the hell?

I must have had a pathetic look on my face, because Maya and Trucy both took hold of my shoulders and ever so gently pushed me back into the chair I'd been sitting in.

"OBJECTION!" I pointed my finger at Mr. Wright who clearly expected this reaction.

"Apollo, she's probably just embarrassed about what happened or doesn't want to upset you or something. Here I'll take your flower to her. I'll go see what's going on try not to take it so personally."

I grumbled an incoherent bunch of swear words and handed him the single rose and slumped back into my chair with Trucy's arms around my neck.

"It'll be ok, Polly, you'll see." She whispered to me, but I wasn't so sure. I wanted to ask Trucy why Vera would do this to me. Maybe she knew something I didn't…maybe I'd missed some warning signs that Vera was ticked at me, but I was too proud to ask her. Instead I kept all my thoughts bottled in me, but one little tear betrayed my disappointment and Truce saw it and wiped it away even before I could.

"Polly, Vera loves you. I know she does. I mean, how could she not?" I wasn't convinced, but since Vera wasn't there to reassure me it was nice to hear it and I let Trucy clamber into my lap to give me a hug before she settled in the chair beside me enabling her to use my shoulder as a pillow. We were all exhausted.

Trucy and I were both half asleep when Phoenix returned. He pulled a chair over to face us and Maya laid down her tangled wad of knitting that she claimed was eventually going to become a scarf for Nick. Mr. Wright had one hundred percent of our attention for his report. It reminded me of when we'd sit together and discuss our investigation findings only instead of talking about details like autopsy reports and footprints we were talking about my girlfriend and her state of mind. The comparison creeped me out a little.

"Well, Nick? How is she?"

Phoenix smiled, but it didn't seem genuine to me. His fingers were twitching ever so slightly. I could tell Trucy was reading his nervousness too as her grip on my arm tightened.

"She's…well." My bracelet squeezed.

_Ok, so she's not great. Ok, what else, Phoenix?_

"She says thank you for the rose. She says it was thoughtful."

_That seems like the kind of thing you say to a neighbor or acquaintance not your boyfriend, but Ok. Sure, I'm thoughtful and just a little pissed off she's not wanting to see me, but ok. Go on, Phoenix._

"And she thinks she would like to stay here for a while."

"Like till she knows if the meds are working?" Trucy supplied helpfully.

"No…" Phoenix reached up to scratch his head. "Like she thinks she belongs here. She doesn't want to come home."

I've never gone from normal to sobbing so fast. It was more like a sneeze than anything else. Tears just shot out of my eyes at forty-five-degree angles. Projectile tears…a skill I never knew I possessed.

"What do you mean?" I sobbed.

"I mean she thinks she can't cope in the real world and that she needs a more sheltered environment."

Most. Annoying. Girlfriend. Ever.

"No. No. No. I won't let her do that." I said jumping from my seat.

"Apollo, she has every right to." He said it gently, apologetically even, but I responded with anger.

"You don't think this is the right thing for her to do, do you?" I shouted at him.

"Of course, not, but she has to decide on her own that it's the wrong thing for her. And that could take time. So let's all go home and-"

"I want to see her." I planted my feet. I wasn't leaving without seeing Vera. She was **my** **girlfriend**. Didn't that mean anything to anyone?

"No, Apollo. She doesn't want to see you."

"That's not fair!" I was pouting like a little kid. I think I might actually have crossed my arms. At any rate I wasn't acting very mature, but neither was Vera in my opinion.

Phoenix shrugged. "She's confused."

"She's always confused. That's why I want to talk to her."

I started sobbing again. "I'll move out if she wants me to. I'll do whatever she wants or needs. She just can't shut herself away from life. It isn't right. It just isn't right. We all know this isn't what she needs."

"Apollo, come home," Maya said gently reaching for my hand.

"No. It isn't my home. It's Vera's. I won't go without her."

"Polly, don't make the Old Man carry you. He'll hurt his back."

I had a crazy need to see her. Part of it was because I was wild about her, and part of it was because I was so angry with her that I wanted to give her a piece of my mind. The panic attack wasn't her fault, but this? She was essentially dumping me without the courtesy of telling me to my face. I thought we were a team…I thought…

"Apollo, this isn't about you. This is about Vera coming to terms with all she's been through. Give it time." Phoenix said.

"Fiiinnnnee." I moaned.

We all walked toward the door, but I hung back. I had an idea. A last ditch effort to get a message to her. A message that I wanted her to be with me not in the damn "safety" of some hospital.

It was hard to time it so Trucy got a couple steps ahead of me, but I managed to do it and then I spun around and ran as fast as I could toward the double doors behind us. I knew that somewhere on the other side of those doors was Vera. She might not even be on this floor, but I had seen my opportunity to get into the authorized personnel area as an employee had walked thorough and the doors hadn't closed yet.

I slipped through and I ran down the hall calling her name. I had no idea what ward she was in, but I ran around calling her name and telling her I loved her at the top of my lungs. A few residents came out to see the commotion as I got drug out by three burly medical assistants. The Sunny River employees took me not back to the lobby but all the way outside to where Phoenix, Maya, and Trucy were waiting.

"You try that again we're calling the cops." One of the Sunny River employees told me.

_Ah, such sunny personalities they have here, but it's ok. I got friends in the police department. Bring it!_

"Was that really necessary, Mr. Justice?" The Amazing Mr. Hat asked me.

I smirked. If Vera heard me it definitely was.

"You really are a romantic at heart aren't you, Polly?" Maya asked me and I shrugged.

I wasn't going down without a fight. I refused to let Vera win by forgetting about her and just drifting out of her life. I believed that we were meant to be together, but at the very least I was confident that neither one of us was supposed to be in a residential mental health facility. Love can be confusing, but I knew one thing for sure Vera didn't belong there and I was going to make sure she figured that out.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

For the next week I tromped to Sunny River every single day to bring Vera a single white rose. Vera still wouldn't see me or anyone else other than Phoenix. Because of my antics the day Vera was admitted the staff had labeled me as a troublemaker so my visits were met with annoyed tolerance every time I arrived and I was frequently reminded that if I "tried anything funny" I would be immediately removed. I understood that I had broken rules, even behaved recklessly perhaps, but the attitude of the employees made me even more determined that this was not where Vera belonged. She belonged with people with a sense of humor. People who valued her just as she was.

Some days I would hang out in the lobby and do a bunch of my paperwork there just to make myself available should Vera decide to see me. Somehow, it made me feel closer to her to be in the same building as her. It made my fantasy of her walking out those double doors and throwing her arms around me seem slightly more plausible. And it gave me a chance to annoy the employees who I considered something of adversaries at this point.

On the eighth day of Vera's stay there I walked up to the counter and placed the rose on it and Amelia, I knew many of the staff members by name now, didn't even look up. "She still won't see you Mr. Justice, though I do admire your persistence. How long you gonna keep this up?"

"Everyday till she comes home. You can tell her that."

"Un-huh. Well, I'll see that she gets the rose."

With a sigh I turned from the counter. It was a long way to come just to deliver a flower, but I was convinced that if I kept coming everyday that Vera would agree to see me if for no other reason than that she would take pity on me having to bus it all the way out to the hospital daily. I didn't believe that she could be so confused that she would have lost her sense of compassion.

I wanted so badly to be able to see her, but today I felt a little poorly so I just sighed and headed for home. By the time I arrived at the office I felt even worse. Upon entering I dumped my briefcase on the floor and made some sort of guttural noise.

"Polly, are you OK? You look kind of weird."

"I dunno, Truce. I think I need to-" I ran to the office bathroom but I didn't even make it to the toilet. I puked all over the floor of the hallway and the bathroom.

"Oh, Polly! Are you Ok?"

I felt awful! Just awful! It was like my insides had gone on strike. This was not my usual "nervous gut" I get when I'm upset. I was sick, really sick.

After about an hour locked in the bathroom marveling how I could feel this bad and technically still be classified as alive I told Truce she needed to call and let the courthouse know I couldn't come to court the next day. Not unless they installed a toilet at the defense desk.

I heard her make calls and then she shouted form outside the bathroom, "Don't worry Polly. Apparently, a bunch of people are sick. Did you happen to have the Tuna Surprise at the cafeteria today?"

I moaned. Oh, well at least it wasn't contagious so I didn't need to worry I was giving Trucy the plague or something. Damn, courthouse cafeteria. I should have sued, but more than anything I was worried about my commitment to Vera. I had said that I would be there everyday and now there was no way I could.

I opened the bathroom door still on my knees crawled into the hallway. Trucy had a pair of yellow latex gloves on and had tied one of her red magician scarves over her mouth and was cleaning up my mess. What a great friend! I felt so weak I just sat down in the doorway to the bathroom.

"Feel better?"

"Yeah, but I still feel terrible." I grumbled.

"You should lay down on the couch. But here let me."

Trucy started unbuttoning my vest and shirt and pulled them off of me. I was too out of it to think that Trucy undressing me while in makeshift biohazard gear might look a little strange if anyone walked in on us. I threw my hurled on clothes in a heap and stumbled over to the couch while Trucy ran to get a trash bag to toss my clothes in.

"Truce, you don't need to do that. I can get it."

"No, Polly, you can't. You're too sick. Food poisoning is serious. Klavier's secretary is already in the hospital because she got so dehydrated."

I mumbled something about blind justice needing to open her eyes to blatant health code violations in the courthouse cafeteria and then started madly waving my hands for a bucket. Trucy sprung into action and got me one in the nick of time. Thank goodness the wastebaskets we use in the office have solid sides and not mesh ones like the ones in the prosecutors' offices.

I made myself a mental note that I was going to owe Trucy big time for all of this and shut my eyes and fell asleep untilPhoenix and Maya came home. I knew it had to be them because I could smell burgers and I heard Trucy accost them at the door.

"Daddy, you guys better eat those in my room or upstairs. Polly's got food poisoning."

"Oh, no! Not Polly, too. We ran into Klavier he was on the way to take his secretary some flowers."

Phoenix and Maya walked over to me.

Phoenix did not mince words. "You look like shit, Apollo. You sure you don't need to go to the hospital, too?"

"Yeah, you're really pale." Maya put her hand on my forehead. "You feel warm. I'll get you a cool cloth."

Phoenix sat next to me and whispered to me. "You sure this is food poisoning?"

I nodded.

"What do you want me to do if the girls insist that you need to go to the doctor?"

"They can fuss all they want, but don't make me move."

Phoenix smiled and winked at me.

"Daddy, don't you think Polly needs fluids? I think we should take him to the hospital."

"Truce quit fussing. If Apollo wants to die on our couch that's his purogative. He's a big boy."

"I learned something today, Phoenix."

"Oh, what's that my young protégé?" He knew I hated it when people referred to me like I was some kid-genius.

I moaned, " I will never order anything else with the word "surprise" in the title."

He patted my leg and smiled. "A wise choice. Only Maya can survive such things."

I had stayed on the couch in the office overnight because I was too weak to make it up the stairs and everybody thought I needed to have somebody keep an eye on me. Trucy volunteered for the job, of course, and was sitting at my desk practicing card tricks and answering my calls. It was embarrassing the detail she went into explaining to all my professional contacts why I was unable to make it to the phone or to court. A simple he's not well would have been fine. I felt sorry for these people having to hear about my blotchy skin and the color of my throw-up, but I was still too sick to use my chords of steel to tell her to shut up.

As my body fought bravely to save itself, I watched some TV or rather stared at the TV while in a dazed state. What little brainpower I had was obsessing about Vera and how I was sure Amelia would take my absence as me giving up on my promise. I was sure I wasn't the first person to be very dedicated to a patient and then slowly start spacing their visits out more and more until they eventually ceased coming entirely. I didn't want anyone to think that was what I was doing, but I was obviously too ill to get myself to Sunny River. Hell, I was still too sick to even make it up the stairs to my own apartment…Vera's apartment.

I was having a hard time. Thinking or our apartment was depressing. My home was Vera's and without her there it felt like she'd died or something. I had to get her back home soon or I was going to go insane and have to move out.

"Trucy, I need you to do something for me. It's really important. I need you to take Vera her rose today."

"Polly, Daddy will probably go visit her. He can tell her you're sick."

"No, Truce. That's not good enough. I told the people at the hospital that I'd come everyday until she came home and I meant it. I want her to get her rose today. I don't want her to think that after a week I give up. Please, Truce. Please."

"Polly, Vera knows you love her you don't need to keep proving it to her."

I looked at my friend intensely. I knew I sounded pathetic and my concerns were ridiculous. It probably would have been fine to simply have someone tell her I was incapacitated, but in my mind that sounded like defeat. Like it was allowing the realities of the world to tromp on what we had. I was also probably not thinking very clearly since I had no sustenance in my system so this flower-delivery business seemed like a life and death thing.

Trucy seemed to sense my psychosis and sighed. "Polly, you're such a dork for Vera. Or is it being sick." She looked skyward as she debated which made me stupider and shrugged. "Ok. I'll do it." I managed a smile. After all this was over I was going to owe Trucy **big time**.

"But only if you promise to take care of yourself. I shouldn't be leaving you…try to drink some water as soon as you can and sleep."

I nodded my head slightly, any more would have hurt too much. I had so little energy. My silly crisis solved thanks to my best friend I closed my eyes to try to get some much-needed rest.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

I drifted in and out of awareness for the next 24 hours or so. Trucy took Vera her roses on day nine and day ten and on day eleven I resumed my duty of trying to convince Vera that her place was back home.

Meanwhile, Trucy and I had a case and we were searching a packrat's apartment for clues in hopes of finding a motive for why he would have gotten clubbed in the head with a bowling trophy. Ema was helping us out. As usual she was playing the part of double agent for us sneaking us information that Klavier would have probably rather us not know.

"Scientifically speaking your client is screwed, Apollo. His fingerprints are on the trophy."

"Just because they're there doesn't mean he's the one who whacked Left E. Lone in the head with it." I explained to her, but inside I agreed. This was not looking good for my client. It also wasn't looking good for me getting over to Sunny River because the victim's apartment had so much junk for us to comb through.

"Polly, if you were going to kill someone and you had a choice of a samurai sword on the wall, a knife from the kitchen, this antique pistol, or that really heavy bronze statue over there why would you reach for the bowling trophy? The thing doesn't even look like it'd be able to kill somebody." Truce said this in a way that made it sound like any item not capable of inflicting a mortal wound was inferior and unworthy of ownership.

I shrugged. "Keep investigating. There's gotta be something here."

Ema chuckled. "I think MUNCH MUNCH the problem is not MUNCH MUNCH finding something here as much as there is just MUNCH MUNCH **too** much stuff here. It kind of reminds me of MUNCH MUNCH your guy's office."

"Hey, we've been clearing that stuff out and if I get Vera to commit as to whether she still wants me living with her or not then I'm sure Trucy can cram some of that stuff into my old room."

"Assuming Vera MUNCH MUNCH wants you living with her MUNCH MUNCH and assuming she actually checks herself MUNCH MUNCH out of Sunny River."

"Ema, do you have to eat those god damn things all the time? Trucy and I are trying to work!" I groused at her.

"Ah, hit a nerve did I? Sorry. I know you're upset about her not being willing to see you. You probably just need to give her space."

_Funny, that advice could go for you right now, Ema._

"But, I am glad MUNCH MUNCH that we're talking about Vera, because I wanted to tell you that we'll be storing one copy of the surveillance tapes form her abduction, but all the others are going to be destroyed. I'm going to see to it myself. MUNCH MUNCH. I thought you and Vera would want to know."

I looked over at Ema and tripped on a pile of magazines sending them cascading across the floor.

"Ugh! Apollo, don't mess up my crime scene." She whined at me.

"Oops! Sorry! How did this guy walk through his apartment?"

Ema shrugged. "I have no scientific proof he did."

But, then I remembered what I was going to ask her. "Ema, would you be ok with Vera destroying the discs herself? I think it might be a good release for her."

Ema smiled. "I think that's a wonderful idea."

Back at the courthouse Ema joined Trucy and I for lunch, which meant that Klavier came and bugged us. I knew that Klavier had an excuse to hover around Ema because he was her boss, but lately I'd been getting a vibe like he was hitting on her or they were flirting with one another. As if Ema weren't annoying enough having him hanging out with us was obnoxious.

"Herr Forehead, is this seat taken?"

"No." I grunted.

Don't get me wrong, Klavier isn't a bad guy, but he's one of those people who is your friend yet you never really picked them to be your friend like a cousin or something. I was stuck with him because we worked on so many of the same cases and everybody needs a rival. At least I kick his butt in court a lot so it's ok. I just wonder if he would croak if he actually called me by my name. He could even call me Polly, I mean almost all the girls call me that now, though it might be weird to have a **guy** call me that…

"Hello, Frauleins and you." That was his welcome of me. I was a guy so he didn't need to butter me up apparently.

"Ema, I got your request for another bottle of Luminol and I don't understand how you could have used that last bottle I bought you already."

Ema groaned. "Ugh! It's lunchtime. Have the courtesy to not bother me with work stuff right now. Don't you know lunch is time for talking about other stuff like…" Ema seemed to not be able to think of an example of a non-work related topic. This didn't surprise me in the least.

"Like movies and current events and cute boys." Trucy supplied.

I rolled my eyes. I needed to get Phoenix down to the courthouse with me more. I was getting way too much girl time and I was in desperate need of a guy to hang out with and Klavier did not qualify.

"Well…" Klavier seemed to contemplate this and then smirked in self-satisfaction. "Watch the master, Fraulien and you will see me include all those things in one sentence. Ema, _Last Night's Nightmare_ is getting excellent reviews would you go see it with me tonight?"

Truce and I stopped chewing our food midbite and turned all our attention to Ema.

Ema was blushing from the sudden attention but rolling her eyes. "I guess," she said trying to appear disinterested and failing. It was obvious to me she wasn't looking him in the eyes because she didn't want to appear excited. "I'm not doing anything else, but only if we go on your motorcycle and not one of your gaudy cars."

"That can be arranged." He said leaning over her shoulder invading her personal space in a very sensual way. Like he was some kind of fox and she was the prey.

I felt a little sick. This was unnatural. Those two should not be dating. No way.

Klavier drank in her expression and then abruptly turned to me. "Speaking of love, how is Vera doing?"

I groaned. I wasn't too proud to admit the truth. "I don't really know. She'll only see Phoenix, but I go everyday in hopes she'll change her mind. I think if I could just talk to her I could convince her to come home, but…"

"I'm sorry to hear that, Herr Forehead. I'm sure Vera is simply confused. She's been through so much, but Dr. Jonas is a good guy I'm sure he can help coax her from her self-imposed isolation."

"How do you know Dr. Jonas? He your doctor?"

Klavier chuckled like one who thinks they are above therapy. "No, he's an old family friend."

I sighed. I had much less faith in Vera's therapist than Klavier did. I wondered if that made me a bad person. I also wondered if the fact I was wildly jealous of Klavier's proximity to Ema also meant there was something wrong with me. I wasn't attracted to Ema I was just jealous of anybody who looked romantically involved. I missed Vera so much. I hadn't spoken to her or seen her in nearly two weeks yet every night I slept in her bed surrounded by walls plastered with her art and every morning her half finished paintings sitting on the easels in mocked me in the corner.

Klavier's eyes met mine and for the first time I felt like under that ego he had a real humanity about him. "I'm sure it'll work out, Apollo."

I smiled at him gratefully and excused myself from the table to go have a private moment. I had some hard choices to make.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

I was exhausted by the time day thirteen of Vera's self-inflicted hospitalization at Sunny River happened. I had spent all day in the hellish bowling trophy trial just to finally show that no murder had actually occurred. The coroner's reports got mislabeled and yes, our victim had been hit in the head with a bowling trophy, but his death had not been a result of head injury and the whole thing was a cluster you-know-what, but Trucy wanted to celebrate our "victory" by having ice cream and I didn't want to deny Trucy a treat just because I was gloomy.

It was, in fact, a lovely sunny day perfect for ice cream in the park with a good friend. So, I bought her a two-scoop cone, chocolate and strawberry and I had a vanilla and tried to remind myself that there was more to life than just Vera.

"Polly, I have a bone to pick with you."

_Great, what the hell'd I do now? I buy her an ice cream and she has the audacity to tell me she's mad at me._

"What is it?" I growled at her. I wasn't in the mood to deal with anybody or anything. I'd been dealing with Klavier's air guitar in court all day and it made me feel like putting a bullet in my brain.

"If you're going to break into Sunny River to visit Vera you should have asked me to help."

Some of my ice cream went down the wrong pipe and I choked. I should have known better than to eat while conversing with Trucy. She was always shocking me to the point I almost died.

"How do you know about that?!"

"Polly, you left all the blueprints of the hospital and stuff right out on the dining table."

I turned to her. Yes, I had left it on the table when the apartment was locked and she wasn't supposed to be in there.

"What the hell! You just come into Vera's whenever you want now?"

Trucy shook her head. "No, I was baking cookies and I ran out of flour and I'd already mixed all the stuff together so I just dashed up to your place to get another cup and a half of flour. It was early in the morning so I knew you'd be sleeping and I didn't want to have to wake you up so I used the emergency key and let myself in."

I sighed. Cookie making did not qualify in my mind as an emergency and I wasn't even sure I had gotten to eat any of the cookies in question.

_Why didn't I get a damn cookie?_

"Trucy, you shouldn't be coming into my place without knocking first. That's just courtesy. Come on, you could have walked in on me…"

"Doing what, Polly? Vera's in the hospital and I've already seen you naked so-"

"You've WHAT?!" Choking once again I stood up and threw the rest of my ice cream in the garbage. Trying to eat it with her around would obviously lead to my untimely death.

"Yeah, when you lived downstairs with us you were getting in the shower and I didn't realize it. I'd just gotten home and ran into the bathroom because I really needed to go. I was so embarrassed I just ran out before you even knew I was there and ran upstairs to get Vera to let me use her toilet."

I had no idea this had happened. It was an accident, one that inevitably happens when people live together, but good grief! Was Trucy determined to walk in on me in compromising positions? I'm just lucky she only needed flour and not a movie. Not that I could watch that stuff anymore. Ever since I watched the surveillance footage of Vera during her abduction I found women on film weren't very appealing anymore.

"Trucy, please knock next time. I know you figure nothing could be going on cause Vera's gone, but I'm a guy and I don't want to feel like I need to always…be worried you're going to walk in on me."

She nodded. "I am sorry, Polly, but, anyways, tell me your plan."

I shrugged. "I don't have a plan yet, but I got to thinking that all these stupid criminals come up with these complex plots to get in places they shouldn't be. I figured I should be able to somehow figure out a way to get in to talk to Vera. I need to talk to her, Trucy."

Trucy nodded. "So, did you get everything about Sunny River that was available through public records law?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't help much. I'd really need to case the place. Figure out who works when and when their smoke breaks are, stuff like that. It's probably a dumb idea. It's just I don't understand what the hell she's thinking."

"I know. She belongs with you, Polly."

"At this point I don't even know, but she doesn't belong in a mental hospital. She has post-traumatic stress. They don't lock up every soldier or bank teller. Why should she be there?"

Trucy looked unsure.

"Ok, Truce. I know she's got some other problems, but you gotta believe she doesn't belong shut away from the world like that."

"Yeah, so let's make a plan."

I shook my head. "I could get arrested for doing this. I'm fine with you knowing about it, but beyond that you can't help. How would your dad feel about getting a call from the detention center to bail you out? He trusts me and I don't want-"

"Daddy wouldn't be mad. Him and Maya have both been thrown in jail for murder like two or three times. I'm sure they'd understand."

"But we wouldn't be innocent. I'm willing to risk my career for Vera, but you don't need to."

"Polly, you forget that I love Vera, too. She's family."

My body sagged. She had won and she knew it. She hugged me and whispered in my ear, "we'll get you in there or die trying."

I grimaced. "Please, Truce, rephrase that before I change my mind."

"Oh, come on. I know you're the romantic type. You'd throw yourself in front of a charging bullet for her."

"Truce, I think you're mixing metaphors. Bullets don't charge."

She put her finger upon her chin considering this as she munched the last little bit of her cone. "Well, they should."

"Sure, Truce, whatever you say. Come on. We have a break in to plan."


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

Planning to sneak into Sunny River didn't prove to be as difficult as I had thought it might be. I had actually been casing the place every time I brought Vera her roses. I just hadn't admitted to myself that was what I'd been doing. Within two days, Trucy and I had discovered a definite pattern to the employee's movements and shifts and we found that at about two pm in the afternoon the day crew was exhausted and getting careless and the swing shift crew was just starting to trickle in and get their assignments and they weren't really "with it" for another hour or so. It did mean there was more staff around, but none of the staff was really functioning well, so we figured it was the ideal time for me to slip in.

Trucy and I created three different scenarios of how to enter the place. I could go through a back service entrance, I could enter through the double doors I had dashed through the day she was admitted, or I could go super spy and climb through the ventilation shaft. While climbing through the ventilation shaft sounded cool I thought it was a little too much work and we decided that if I slipped through the service entrance dressed in scrubs with an official looking ID tag around my neck I could probably wander around without too much of an issue. The hospital had a large enough staff that if I looked like I belonged there we figured no one would question me. I mean really how many people break **into** a mental hospital. I was sure there would be security around the pharmacy, but I wasn't after drugs. All I wanted was to get to speak with Vera.

So on day fifteen of Vera's stay at Sunny River I hung out behind the hospital in an area the employees used as their smoke area. I stood there dumbly fiddling with a packet of cigarettes praying that I wouldn't have to light the damn things as I find smoking a filthy habit and, therefore, have never smoked in my life. And I knew if I had to actually use my prop that my hacking and gagging would give me away. I lucked out though because the afternoon deliveries arrived and the truck driver went to make small talk with one of the cute nurses given me an opportunity to just walk on in. They really needed to heighten security.

Once inside the hospital I fit in nicely. Wearing the same shade of blue scrubs as the rest of the crew made me seem like a legitimate team member and Trucy had done an awesome job making me official looking identification to wear on a lanyard around my neck. It even had the Sunny River rising sun logo on it. It's pretty amazing what Trucy can do with the aid of the Internet. If I wasn't committed to following the letter of the law I would have suggested she make us some money by creating fake IDs, but, of course, I'm a law-abiding citizen when I'm not illegally breaking into hospitals.

But some things are more important than laws. Phoenix would probably say something like the truth or believing in your client. I say something like family, friends, you know…loved ones. All I know is I felt no remorse for what I was doing. Laws are designed to apply to the ninety-nine percent of the time when things are normal. Having your sane girlfriend choose to live in a mental hospital doesn't fit in that category to me.

Trucy had used her charm to weasel Vera's room number out of Phoenix so I knew Vera was in 437 which meant she was on the fourth floor somewhere on the north side of the building. Once I was in the patient ward of Sunny River I found myself wanting to run to her, but I kept reminding myself that I was playing a part. I was now Apollo Justice, healthcare worker, making my rounds to check on patients. I needed to blend in and not act like who I really was Apollo Justice, defense attorney and boyfriend of mentally ill world-famous artist Drew Misham who had walled herself off from the world in Sunny River thereby driving me insane with loneliness and worry.

So I calmly walked to the elevator and rode up to the fourth floor. I found myself feeling naked. Sure, I was dressed but I'd never been in scrubs before and they feel a lot like being in pajamas and I kept having my heart skip a beat thinking I forgot to get dressed. I reached up to run my hair through my spikes, but they weren't there either. Trucy had made the point that my hairstyle was too distinctive and that with my spikes I could be recognized even from a distance and that I would have to survive without them. I had protested at first, but I knew she was right, as usual.

The ride up to the fourth floor felt like it took forever. I was a world away from the happy life I had with the Wrights and the life I had had not that long ago with Vera in our purple-walled apartment, a life that made me happier than anything ever had before. Anxiety started to grip me. What if she told me to get lost? What if she said she'd never loved me? What if…I took a deep breath and tried to steady myself. Vera would always be an angel…even if she refused to be my angel. I just had to believe there was some reason she felt she needed to be here and if I could figure out the reason surely she and I could find a way to overcome it.

Once on the fourth floor I headed down the hallway as a few patients passed by. They ranged in mentation from seeming like zombies to being fairly normal. I felt sorry for all of them, but maybe for some of them this **was** the most functional life they could have. Maybe this place's structure provided safety and comfort to them, but I refused to believe Vera could feel that way. She had dreams she would never be able to achieve here. I knew she wanted stuff that many of these other patients simply didn't have the capacity to achieve. She had issues, I couldn't deny that anymore, but had she given up on her idea of starting an art school, had she given up on her belief that there were fascinating people in the world and new experiences she wanted to have? Had she given up on us?

I was so absorbed in these thoughts that when a patient shuffling down the hallway abruptly shouted I almost leapt out of my skin. A wave of panic hit me thinking he was sounding the alarm that I was an intruder but when he didn't even look at me I realized it must have been a verbal tick. The guy had Turret's or something. I breathed a sigh of relief and picked up my pace ever so slightly and it was then that the irony of my situation really hit me fro the first time. If I couldn't get Vera out of here I might just end up here myself with how crazy I felt without her in my life. When had that happened? When had I gotten to the point I couldn't function without her?

_Vera, please let me take you home._


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

I could hear Vera before I reached her room. My ears were finely attuned to the faint scratchings of her pencil sketching and like a bird watcher following the call of an elusive avian I followed the sound down the hall to room 437 until I found myself standing in her doorway. She was seated in a chair looking out the window with her back to me her drawing pad in her lap.

I worried that if I said, "Hi" she would scream, but I couldn't very well just grab her and cover her mouth to keep her quiet. She was here because she was traumatized. I didn't need to make her worse.

So I compromised. I took a step forward and I whispered her name. Her pencil paused, but she didn't turn around. She merely stopped as if listening and then started drawing again.

"Vera, Vera, it's me. Please let me talk to you."

The pencil again quit moving and her back stiffened. She looked over her shoulder and gasped at seeing me.

"SHHHH! Vera please let me talk to you."

Vera looked pale as a ghost. She was glancing at a red button by the bed I could only assume was some kind of panic button. I hoped she didn't have one on her body like a panic bracelet or something.

"Polly, is that really you? You don't work here now do you?"

I shook my head.

"Then how did you get in here? They're not supposed to let you in."

"Yeah, Vera. What's with playin' hard to get?" I smiled awkwardly. "I don't understand. Are you mad at me?"

Vera said nothing but walked over to me and touched my face. She looked into my eyes and seemingly satisfied that I wasn't some kind of apparition walked past me. I worried she might be going to call someone to haul me off, but instead she simply shut the door and turned to face me.

"Polly, you don't belong here."

"Funny. That's just what I was going to say to you, sweetie."

"I'm sorry to have hurt you, but I'm not coming home." There was finality to her tone that I found disturbing, chilling even. It took me a moment before I could overcome the cold and find my words again.

"So I've been told, but I don't understand why."

"Because I failed. I've been so sheltered for so long I can't do it. I'm sorry. I tried."

"Vera," I reached for her hand. "You had one bad panic attack induced by ME and my stupidity. That doesn't mean you don't belong out in the world."

She bowed her head.

"Vera, I refuse to stand by while you shut yourself off from life! You do that your kidnappers won. You gotta keep fighting. Life is worth fighting for. Don't you think?" I leaned over so I could look up into her downcast face.

"I can't do it, Polly. I'm sorry!" She threw herself face down on the bed. I knelt beside it.

"Vera, set aside the fact that I'm madly in love with you and that I want you back because of that and pretend I'm just your lawyer again."

"You were never just my lawyer, Polly. You've always been an…inspiration." I felt a thrill run through my body and I fought to ignore it. I needed to get past all my horny, crazed boyfriend feelings and get to the heart of what was bothering her.

"Ok, fine, whatever. Just hear me out. I'll help you in whatever way I can. If I'm smothering you, I'll move out. If you need more support I'll quit working. You get royalties from all those books you've illustrated, right?"

"A lot of it goes as restitution to people for my crimes."

I snorted. In my opinion, Vera's only crime was being too damn talented an artist.

"Yeah, well you're talented. I'm sure we could find a way to live off your art and I'd stay home and-"

"Polly, you can't do that for me."

"I wouldn't be mad. I'd do anything-"

"Polly, people need you. Who else would have believed I hadn't killed my father? You have to help people, Polly. It's what you're meant to do."

"And you think you're meant for this?" I swung my arms around the generic hospitalesque room she now called home. It was as un-Vera as any place could be.

Vera sat up and looked at me. I had to admit she did look confused. I wondered what meds she was on.

"Polly, there's more to it than just that."

_Finally. We were getting somewhere._

"I'm not sure we have a healthy relationship." I blinked a few times and nervously ran my fingers through my hair wishing my spikes were there. This wasn't exactly where I thought this conversation was going.

"Are you breaking up with me?"

Vera shook her head rather wildly from side to side.

"Well, Vera what am I supposed to think? I'm not sure how we can be together…" I moved my hands back and forth between the two of us in the universal guy hand gesture for relationship. "If you're here. Tell me how that's supposed to work, Vera."

"I guess you're right."

"I know I'm right. But it isn't about being right. I need to know what you're thinking. Are you angry, scared, what, sweetie?"

"Well, Dr. Jonas has raised some concerns that perhaps I'm not coping well and that maybe our relationship is codependent."

As an attorney I had to take some psychology classes, but I'm no expert. I have some notion that codependency is something the spouses of alcoholics or other addicts tend to be where they enable or support problem behaviors or pretend they don't exist…or something. I blinked at her.

"O…k…" I said slowly letting this sink in with me. "So, what bad thing am I enabling you to do? I thought I was helping you…"

"He says that I'm abnormally fixated on you."

Vera started chewing her nails and I reached over and pulled her hand away from her face automatically. "None of that now."

"Oh, sorry." She mumbled.

"Look, Vera if I'm doing something wrong I'll move out. You just can't stay here and if you want to break up with me I'd much rather you just tell me."

She started crying and her body tremored.

"Vera! Sweetie!" I hugged her and she cried on me and then she was kissing me her hand sliding up the back of my neck, pulling my lips and face ever closer as she leaned back leading me on top of her. I felt her legs starting to wrap around me and I somehow no longer got the impression she wanted to break up. She seemed to want to get together right now. Right here.

"Vera, Vera, easy!"

She looked at me still clinging to me a wild look of desire in her eyes. "I could already be arrested for sneaking in here. Your nurses find me here doing **that** I'm going to be in even bigger trouble." I smiled…still a part of me thought it would be worth the risk…

_FOCUS, APOLLO! You can do all that when she's back home. You gotta get her home first, dumbass._

"Polly, I don't care what Dr. Jonas says! I love you. I think we take care of each other."

"We do."

"I don't understand am I not letting you be independent enough? I know things are weird because you can't go out, but I don't have anything to do with your book deals or anything…I mean, I did tell you I wanted Phoenix there when the editor came over but that's just because I don't think you should be alone in the apartment with strangers…I wasn't trying to be controlling-"

Vera ended my ramblings by kissing me again.

"I'm sorry I listened to him. I get intimidated. He says all these things like he knows and really, Polly, what do I know about anything?"

"You know plenty and you're really smart. It doesn't matter that you're cooped up inside all the time you know more about stuff than most people."

A few tears silently streamed down Vera cheeks and I reached over to wipe them away.

"Vera, if you're worried about not having gotten to live think about what kind of life you're going to have here. Sure you'll get to paint and draw, but will you be able to have a life, friends, family, stuff like that?"

The question was an honest one. I had no idea if she even got to leave her room here.

"Vera, please come home." She crawled into my arms and feeling her body against mine even in this horrible place I felt more at peace than I had since she left.

"Vera, I'm not done helping you." I whispered to her. "You chose me to help you and I refuse to forget that. So, I have something for you."

"I'm surprised there are any white roses left." She said sniffling.

"No sorry no rose today- not right now anyways. I thought I might crush it in the process of smuggling myself in. No, I have something different."

I handed her a folded manila envelope I had stuffed in a pocket on the side of scrub pants.

"I don't understand. It's a bunch of CDs? Why are you giving me this?"

"I'm not. It's a gift from Ema. And so is this." And I produced a miniature hammer from the same pocket. Ema had written a note and taped it to the handle. It said, "_Vera, let the bastards have it- scientifically speaking. Ema"_

"The police have to keep one copy of the surveillance tapes from when you were kidnapped, but it'll be under lock and key in the evidence vault. These are the other copies."

Vera looked down at the hammer in her hand and the silvery circles and blinked. I wondered what she was thinking.

"They violated your privacy. They took you away from your home…"

She reached into the envelope and pulled out one disc. She gently set it on the ground and she swung the hammer back and forth ever so slightly in her hand before bringing it crashing down on the disc. It shattered and she smiled. I grinned. I hadn't seen her smile in fifteen days. I could probably even count the hours, too.

Then she grabbed the next disc and did the same thing. The third one she bent in half with her bare hands a look of almost sadistic pleasure on her face. Then she started muttering.

"Fuckin' bastards come into my home and take me away and hit me and tell me they have Trucy and Polly. You pieces of SHIT!!"

I had never before seen Vera like this. Either I had unleashed some inner demon that the Sunny River employees would live to rue or I had just created a breakthrough Dr. Jonas was failing to achieve.

"Record me talking to my dad! My dad who was killed by someone he thought he could trust. Make me ruin the life of a nice guy. Make it so Phoenix is so scared he has to keep the only woman he loves away from him…but I'm the criminal…I'm the evil one!"

Then Vera took the envelope and dumped them out and sat down on the floor amongst the pile and as if playing a frenzied full body version of whack-a-mole banged the hammer wildly around her. I took a step back to avoid the shrapnel of bits of CDs. I hoped she didn't get hurt, but I really didn't think she would have cared.

Profanities were spewing from her lips as she rambled about everything she'd been through in her life. It was funny for such a sweet person she had sure put up with a ton of shit. She was crying but not helplessly so instead she hit the CDs with the hammer every time a new tear emerged as if these bits of plastic needed to pay for her weakness.

After every CD was cracked and busted to her satisfaction she laid the hammer down and surveyed the mess around her. I saw her take a deep breath before she looked up at me, the demon sated she was back to the angelic being I was used to.

"That was strangely pleasant. Please thank Ema for me." I offered her my hand and she stood up and walked over to get a trash can and she began picking up the pieces to throw in the garbage. I got down with her on the floor to pick them up, but she gently grabbed my hand.

"No, I want to keep that one. I like the shape of it."

She picked through the rubble of her destruction and selected about twelve pieces and the rest we threw away. The pieces she took to a bedside table that had a drawer and placed them delicately within it.

"I have an idea for those."

I nodded. The mind of an artist is always inventing.

"Please, Vera come home. Like I said I'll move out if you want me to or I'll-"

"I heard you say all that Polly. I'm confused not deaf." She sounded tired, but more like the Vera I was used to the not-living-in-the-mental-ward Vera.

"Polly, I don't know that I can be what you want me to be."

"Vera, I don't want you to be anybody you're not, but that's the whole thing. This place isn't you. You haven't made it this far on your own to wind up here. So, come home and we'll figure things out from there."

I could almost see the gears in her brain taking all this stimulation in and trying to decide how to react to it. I stood there dumbly not knowing what else to say or do, but Vera approached me with open arms and the hint of a smile on her lips.

"Can you tell me that thing about you being madly in love with me again?"

I pulled her close to me. Everything was going to be ok.


	11. Chapter 11

Risenfromash: So, I …ah… thought I had already posted the next few chapters I'd written, but I guess I didn't so sorry for the delay! I am kind of stuck on this story but not till Chapter 13 or so…Also my apologizes for previous bad formatting my _italizing_ doesn't always show up on fanfic and I've had to change the way I do breaks within the story.

CHAPTER 11

Vera and I both heard something from the hall.

"Hide!" Vera ordered.

"Where?"

"Under the bed." She hissed

And so I squished myself under the bed just in time for Phoenix to come strolling in.

"Oh, hi. Mr. Phoenix." Vera said. I could tell from her voice that she was relieved it was only Mr. Wright. If it had been hospital staff we would have been in big trouble.

"Hello, Vera." Phoenix sat down in the chair by the door.

"How are you feeling today?"

"Better."

"That's good. Really good. Doing any drawing?" Phoenix was always enamored with Vera's artistic abilities.

"Yes. You want to see?"

"Sure." I heard him get up from the chair as she went to grab her art pad from the other chair by the window. The two of them stood close to one another by the bed presumably examining her latest sketch.

"Vera, that is beautiful. I can't wait till we run away tonight. I just told Maya about us. I'm glad you finally realized how much more I could satisfy you than that idiot boyfriend of yours." At this point he swung his foot under the bed kicking me.

"OUCH!!" I yelped as he lifted up the askew blanket to grin at me in my hiding place.

"I'm impressed, Apollo. That's the longest I've ever seen you control your temper." Phoenix laughed.

"You asshole!" I said crawling out.

Vera was laughing so hard she was holding onto the bed for support.

"I gather she signaled to you I was under there." I narrowed my eyes at Vera giving her my best fake how-dare-you glare.

"Nope. The smile on Vera's face gave you away." Vera blushed and looked down as Phoenix shook his head and grinned at the two of us.

"So, Nurse Justice, how we getting her out of here?"

Vera smiled. "Well, I checked myself in so I should just be able to check myself out, right?"

Phoenix and I shrugged. It seemed like that should be the case. She turned to push the nurse call button and as I slid back under the bed I winked at Phoenix. It had been easier to convince her to come home than I had thought it would be.

Phoenix once again settled into the chair by the door as Vera began to collect up her things starting with the sketches she had created over the last fifteen days. There were a tremendous number of them scattered around the room next to paper cups acting as vases for the white roses I'd been bringing her.

Phoenix talked to Vera about how happy Maya and Trucy would be that she was coming home, though I was sure Vera knew it was his way of saying how relieved he himself was that Vera was returning to us.

A nurse-person of some type came in. I was hidden so I couldn't see her. I just heard her voice.

"Yes, Ms. Misham, what can I do for you?"

"I would like you to begin getting my discharge paperwork together. I've decided that I feel stable enough to return home."

"Ok, sounds good. I'll notify the doctor for you."

"Any idea how long it'll be before…"

"No, I'm sorry. I have no idea. I'll update you if we haven't heard from Dr. Jonas by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Vera sounded shocked. "But I want to go home today. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight."

Which in my selfish mind translated directly to I want to sleep with Polly tonight and I grinned giddily under the bed.

_Whoohoo!_

I was shameless. My girlfriend obviously had some serious issues going on and all I could think about was how badly I wanted to make out with her. Bad, Apollo!

"Well, I'll see what I can do, but I'm not sure that that will be feasible. Normally, discharges take several days."

Vera made an irritated clucking sound like an angry chicken and a minute later I was signaled I could come back out by another sharp kick from Phoenix.

"You could just say all clear or something." I complained as I slid myself out from under the bed rubbing the spot on my leg Phoenix had bruised. He merely chuckled to himself apparently enjoying the fact he had free license to abuse me.

Vera held out her arms.

"I guess I was naïve to think I could just walk out of here." There were tears forming in her eyes when she looked at me so she glanced away quickly out of embarrassment.

"Vera, it's ok." I reassured her. "We'll make sure you get out of here as fast as we can. If that's what you want…" I didn't think I could handle her changing her mind so I figured I should give her one last chance to back out of her decision. Phoenix looked at me nervously. I got the feeling he would not have allowed her this final opportunity, but, thankfully, she nodded her head quickly and I found myself forgiving her for the misery of all the uncertainty she had left me with over the last week or so.

Then my phone vibrated. It was a text from Trucy. It was hard for her to act as a look out from all the way in the lobby, but something must have concerned her because the message said two words only._Incoming HIDE._

So once again I slid under the bed and found myself wishing I had one of those things a mechanic uses to roll themselves under cars.

"Ms. Misham. I just wanted to let you know I looked over your chart and I didn't realize you are a NRWR."

I heard no reaction. I could only assume that Vera was also unaware of what this acronym meant. I hoped it wasn't another diagnosis. Vera had enough problems without adding another bit of alphabet soup to the list.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what that means. Mr. Phoenix, do you?"

He must have shaken his head, because I heard no response.

"It means No Release Without Reevaluation." The nurse stated matter-of-factly.

"Could you please further define that for those of us without a medical degree?" Vera said not unkindly, but with a definite edge of irritation in her voice.

"It means you can not be released without your doctor's permission."

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem." Vera said with relief. "Dr. Jonas said when I was admitted I could leave at any point."

"Well, you'll have to talk to your doctor because you were reclassified after the time of your admission something about fixations he is helping you through."

"I don't understand…Dr. Jonas never mentioned that to me!"

"I'll tell him he needs to contact me and we'll get this cleared up. Ok, Ms. Misham?"

"Yeah, ok. Do what you need to do." Vera sounded deflated. She and I both knew this could take a while. I wished I didn't have to leave.

A few moments later I heard Vera say, "Polly, you can come out now."

"Damn, you beat me to it." Phoenix said to her while shaking his leg at me as I wiggled my way out from under the bed for what felt like the hundredth time.

I sat down on the bed and Vera came and sat beside me. She forced a half-hearted smile in Phoenix's direction and then glumly clasped her hand in mine and sighed.

"Mr. Phoenix, I trust your opinion. Do I seem worse to you?" Tears started pouring out of her eyes.

Phoenix immediately got up and came and sat on the other side of her and put an arm around her. Vera buried her face in his chest as he hugged her.

"Oh, Vera! This is just a formality. We'll get you out of here. Promise."

Phoenix nodded. "Yeah, Apollo and I will do everything we can. Don't worry. It's probably some stupid paperwork mess up. Dr. Jonas probably checked the wrong box on some form or something."

But for some reason I had the suspicion that Phoenix wasn't saying what he was feeling. He had spent too many years perfecting his poker face for me to detect his lies as easily as I could most people's, but something about his remark sounded distant. Maybe it was because he wasn't looking at Vera when he said it. Instead he was patting her back and gazing fixedly across the room.

I glanced at him and he could tell I had caught him and he shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, I'm gonna get out of here so you two can have some time together." Vera pulled her face from his chest and wiped her eyes with her hand. She looked at his tear-soaked hoodie with embarrassment and he shrugged. "No worries, Vera, promise me. Apollo and I'll make sure this all gets cleared up." She nodded. He gently placed his hand on top of her head, smiled at her and said, "Bye. And Vera, be nice to poor Polly. He's been a wreck without you." And with that he headed out.

Then it was just me and Vera. She turned to me and her lower lip quivered.

"Oh, Polly. I'm so sorry I put you through this." And she buried her head into my chest.


	12. Chapter 12

Risenfromash: This was originally preceded by a bunch of Phoenix and Apollo interaction, but I'm saving it for later in the arc. Sorry!

CHAPTER 12

"So, if Dr. Jonas says he doesn't believe Vera is stable enough to leave Sunny River we just need to receive a second opinion, right?"

The family had assembled to discuss how to most swiftly aid Vera in her return to normal life and so far we had realized there wasn't much we could do for her until we got her back home with us.

"Yup. I think we just send another psychiatrist in to evaluate her and they say she's good to go. We might need two others though, because otherwise it's just two professionals with differing opinions."

I groaned. I had helped Krisoph with enough medical experts on the stands to know you can find someone with credentials willing to say just about anything. Then a thought crossed my mind…

"Wait a second. Truce, what did Klavier say at lunch the other day?"

"That he'd pick Ema up on his motorcycle at seven?" Trucy appeared envious. I rolled my eyes.

_There is no way Trucy needs to be idolizing that guy._ _He flirts with anything on two legs, me included._

That's why he was pursuing Ema so much…she was the only one not completely enamored with his rock godliness, of course, I was suspicious he and Daryan had had a thing going, too. Though it wasn't my business so I never pried.

"Not that. Though that was so disturbing it stuck with me, too. He said something about how Dr. Jonas was a good guy. An old friend of the family."

Trucy thought for a moment and then a look of concern appeared over her features, "Polly, you don't think?"

"I don't know…but it would sure explain why he seems to hate me so much."

"What's the conspiracy-theory expert think?" Maya said grinning at Nick.

"I'm not sure I like that being my function in this office," he mumbled.

"Oh, Daddy. It's only cause we think you're brilliant-"

"And it will remain your function till you retake the bar exam," Maya said slightly threateningly. Phoenix had been making comments lately about how he might not really want to be a lawyer again, but all of us saw through his little act. He just didn't want to have to take the exam again.

"So what do you think?" I said deciding to let him off the hook about the exam just this once.

Phoenix's gaze met mine. "I think that if this doctor has anything to do with Kristoph he shouldn't be Vera's doctor anymore. I'd hate to think he would risk his license over this, but…"

I already had my phone in hand.

"Herr Forehead! What can I do for you this time?"

I was embarrassed. I did seem to have a habit of only calling Klavier when I needed something. I decided I'd have to make a point of calling him sometime just to chat or to ask him out…to lunch or something. Ugh! That didn't sound fun at all!

"Um. I was just wondering if I could ask you some more about Dr. Jonas."

"Ja. Of course. What about Hank?"

"How exactly do you know him?"

"Kristoph and Hank went to school together. Why?"

_I thought so._

"Were they…close?" I don't know what I was fishing around for; I hated asking Klavier about his brother. I knew it pained him, but I felt like I might get lucky and Klavier might offer something useful.

He sighed. "I guess. They hung out a lot together. I think they might have even been roomies once. Is something wrong? Kristoph hasn't done something has he?" The panic in Klavier's voice was evident. I knew he would always love his brother, but he didn't trust him anymore than Phoenix or I did.

"Honestly, I don't know. I hope not. Anyways, I'm sorry to have bothered you."

"It's no bother. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, I'm fine. Have a good night."

"Ja. I'm **sure** I will. Ema and I are going out again."

I choked back my gag reflex and said, "Well, you two have fun."

I couldn't believe I had just said that.

He laughed. "Take care."

~xxxx~

Dr. Jonas had made time out of his "busy" schedule to grant us an audience. He led us into his office and we sat on overstuffed chairs and I had this sudden odd feeling like Phoenix and I were there for a couples counseling session. Maybe it was the way Dr. Jonas was treating us. So I decided to initiate the conversation before he could.

"Dr. Jonas, we're hear to speak with you about Vera."

"Of course."

"We have here her written permission to access her medical records."

"Oh?" He was trying to play this cool. "Well, my client service representative would be more than happy to have them transferred to you. It can take up two weeks, I believe, but she'll know for sure."

"Sir, I'm dissatisfied with the care Vera's being given." I stated.

"On what grounds? It isn't uncommon for the family of the one receiving therapy to feel threatened. I assure you Ms. Misham is making progress."

"Being locked inside a mental hospital is not progress! You and I both know she doesn't belong there."

"Well, I am a medical professional and I feel her emotional state is precarious and the haphazard lifestyle of you and your friends is unhealthy for her."

I stood up. "So you are **judging us**. This isn't about Vera and what's best for her at all. It's that you don't like Mr. Wright or me."

"That is the simplistic view of someone who has not been to medical school."

"Dr. Jonas, other psychiatrists are going to be meeting with Vera and you should know that if their opinions differ drastically from yours Phoenix and I will bring to light your bias."

"Mr. Justice, you don't really believe that you can win do you?"

"I **will** win and Vera will be back home."

"Sir, Vera is emotionally disturbed and belongs in a safe, consistent environment that **you** are unable to provide for her. You need to learn to accept the things you don't have the capability to change."

"How much did Kristoph pay you?" I asked with disgust.

Dr. Jonas inhaled. He had not expected us to make this connection.

"Look, I know you're friends with him and I hope you're **really good** friends because your professional reputation is going down. I will make sure you lose your license. Vera needs help! Not manipulation!"

Then I lost it. I really did. "You **ASSHOLE** you're supposed to be **helping** her!" I felt an almost overwhelming urge to pummel this guy, but Phoenix laid his hand on my shoulder and calmly said, "We'll give the receptionist our paperwork. You should expect that you'll be hearing from us again, **Dr**. Jonas."

Phoenix forced me to turn, but I had gotten under Dr. Jonas' skin. He was worried. I could tell because he was twitching. His nose and lips were wiggling and his hand was shaking. **I liked seeing it**. I would have liked seeing his face smashed into the expensive carpet on the floor of his office more, however.

Dr. Jonas turned and spoke. "Mr. Justice, I highly suggest you get some therapy. Your tendencies toward aggressive behavior could make you a menace and I'd hate to think we're all going to lose our licenses over one **insecure little girl**."

I'm not sure if he had meant to provoke me in hopes I would really lose it or if he was actually speaking his true feelings. All I know is that was not what anyone should say about any of the women in my family. Phoenix and I both turned. He was as pissed as I was.

"Take that back! Vera is strong. She's going to get through this. She just needs real help, not your fake compassionate ear. You'll see!"

I don't know how Phoenix managed to get me out of there, especially with as angry as he was. Vera had really become like a second daughter to him…

Phoenix handed our papers over to the woman at the desk and I went out to get some fresh air. He found me sitting on the concrete wall of the wheelchair ramp out in front of Dr. Jonas' building.

"Sorry, I guess that didn't really help us."

Phoenix shrugged, "It's ok. I'm sorry I couldn't let you beat him up. He's a jerk and we were right he's on the take." Phoenix looked glum. I kind of suspect he had hoped our theory was wrong, but we were skilled investigators so of course it wasn't.

I groaned and lay back on the wide concrete wall. "You think we're gonna be able to prove it?"

"I'm not gonna lie. It'll be tough, but we should be able to get Vera out of Sunny River pretty easily."

"I want that man to lose his license, Phoenix. If he did this to Vera who knows how many other people he does it to. People who don't have anybody to fight for them."

Phoenix raised his eyebrows. "I agree with you, but let's focus on getting Vera out first. You're going to pop a gasket otherwise."


	13. Chapter 13

Risenfromash: I thought writing _Stolen Angel_ was hard, but this has proven to be the Most. Obnoxious. Story. To. Write. Ever. However, everything after this will be Polly and Vera relationship stuff, which is already written, and I think **much better**- so sorry for a few really bad chapters. What can I say? After rewriting this stuff like five different ways I decided the problem was plot more than anything and you can't make too many changes when you've already posted 80% of the story. It's ok, though. I've just learned my lesson. I'm going back to not posting until I have the story almost completely finished. That's how I usually do this stuff…oh, well.

CHAPTER 13

It took a lot of "finagling," as Maya put it, to get any shrinks in to see Vera quickly, but one good thing about celebrity is that it gets your phone message on the top of the list and "Drew Misham" had become a household name. So I felt assured that our plea for assistance would at least be heard. The problem was that we wanted action to be taken quickly. Everyday that Vera still had Dr. Jonas as her psychiatrist was another day that she wouldn't be receiving real help and he would have the opportunity to manipulate her planting seeds of doubt about her overall sanity and about her faith in herself and those she trusted most.

Finally, after what seemed like talking to fifty doctors Phoenix and I selected two, Dr. Vicoodous and Dr. Cleaver. They both had good credentials, over five years of practical experience (Phoenix and I had a fight about this since I didn't feel years of experience was that important and was surprised when Phoenix said he did), and neither had previously given "expert" testimony in trials. We thought it best to hire a professional who didn't have a reputation for saying whatever the person paying them wanted them to say. That was, after all, Dr. Jonas', **true** specialty.

The two psychiatrists met with Vera individually and reported their opinion to Sunny River management and we thought that would be the end of the entire mess, but that, of course, would have been too simple. Instead, we were informed that the hospital wanted to have a hearing. I wasn't sure if this was normal procedure or not, but a representative from Sunny River told us that this was something they did in situations were discrepancies existed between different doctors' opinions about a patient's condition or when patients and their families had conflicts over the care a patient was receiving. They said the meeting would be a kind of "mediation" between all parties involved. "Mediation" is a word that makes me nervous. It's supposed to elicit warm, fuzzy feelings of cooperation and mutual respect, but as a lawyer it makes me wonder who is going to get themselves screwed over. Normally outside the courtroom I consider myself a fairly reasonable guy, but I wasn't willing to compromise on anything having to do with Vera's wellbeing. She didn't belong at Sunny River. Period.

That meant that even if it took me breaking up with her or moving out of her apartment I was going to do whatever I needed to in order to convince them that Vera was well enough to come home.

So, on day twenty-six of Vera's stay at Sunny River our entire family, the two psychiatrists we had hired, Dr. Jonas, and a panel of three people of some significance to the hospital met for "mediation". Because this was a mediation we were all seated at one table as though we all thought nothing but civil things about one another. Which I'm sure would have been true if Dr. Jonas hadn't been sitting at the table, but I had nothing but horrible thoughts about that man.

At the start of the meeting everyone introduced himself or herself. The three "panel members" were a nurse practitioner specializing in mental health, a patient advocate, and a former patient. The nurse practitioner acted as the spokesperson for the group explaining that the hearing was being held as a way for Vera and her advocates (that meant us, her friends and family) and doctors to express their hopes and concerns about her current status as a patient at the Sunny River Mental Health Facility and her desire to return to her own residence with continued outpatient psychiatric care. This was a fancy way of stating that essentially we were going to need to give testimony to the panel, which would act as a jury voting on whether or not they believed it was appropriate to allow her to leave the facility.

I sighed. As if dealing with the parole board wasn't enough of a headache now doctors were requiring testimony and witnesses. It really made me wonder what the world was coming to.

But the spokesperson of the group explained that Vera's case was unique in that it was highly unusual for someone to grow up in the kind of isolation Vera did and then be introduced to the world by being a victim of so much violence. There just weren't enough case studies to refer to and, therefore, they were being extra careful.

Even without a medical degree I could understand that. Vera's life made my supposedly tragic life look simplistic and I constantly found myself humbled by the fact that despite all my efforts she was found guilty of producing forgeries and still suffered from a variety of problems I couldn't do anything to fix. But I was getting over it. I was starting to figure out that I couldn't fix her, but that I didn't need to. I loved her just the way she was. It didn't matter if she could never stand to be in a crowd or if she would only sleep in purple rooms. All that meant to me was that I would always be there to paint her walls purple and live like a hermit with her. I just wanted to be with her. The rest didn't matter.

So, if that fit their definition of codependency, it was official; we were codependent. Which was why I was so nervous about the hearing. I felt like what I said was going to be almost as important as what Vera said and seated at that fake high quality wood table it wasn't Ace Attorney Apollo Justice that I saw reflected back at me. I saw a **kid**. A kid desperate to be back with the girl he loved.

I glanced at Vera who was seated beside me. I could tell she was fighting the urge to hide under the table. I took her hand and whispered, "It'll be ok, sweetie." She smiled at me and nodded. Though I knew neither one of us was brimming with confidence, Phoenix was. Dressed in his signature blue suit he had told me there was nothing to worry about because truth was on our side.

"You and Vera have nothing to lie about and nothing to be ashamed of, Apollo," he had told me that morning. He said he had been through a ton of meetings similar to this one when he was applying to adopt Trucy and he had been "forced to fabricate" a few minor details. I took that to mean he lied about practically everything and got away with it. Why else would the Department of Child Safety have adopted a little girl to an anti-social single man with no steady income? But he maintained that since **we** didn't have to lie about anything there was no reason to be worried.

After the introductions we were all sent into the hallway to be called in individually to appear before the three doctors and three independent panel members to answer some questions about our living arrangements, Vera, and whatever else the panel thought was relevant. Since they had reams of notes about Vera they didn't talk with her. Instead she sat attempting to assist Maya's "yarn wad", which is what Phoenix and I called Maya's knitting.

While Phoenix was in being questioned Trucy came over to me.

"Polly, you're going to do fine. You're used to this kind of stuff."

"But, Truce what if I say the wrong thing?"

"What wrong thing can you say? That you worship the ground Vera walks on?" She said teasing me.

"What if that is the wrong thing to say?" I gazed over at Vera.

"Polly, just be yourself. Don't try to be brilliant or get crafty. Just be honest."

And as if that was my cue, Phoenix exited the hearing room and said, "Justice, you're up."

And with one final look back at the love of my life I headed into the hot seat to be asked god knows what about myself and my life with Vera.


	14. Chapter 14

Risenfromash: After being so frustrated with this story yesterday I felt like banging my head into a wall I was shocked to find the conclusion coming together today. Some days I guess you have it and other days it all just sucks. This is a long chapter and then there are two more. I should be wrapping it up in the next couple days. I'm eager to be done with this one. I think Apollo's getting pissed at me for taking so long. Ha, ha.

CHAPTER 14

"You are Mr. Apollo Justice, correct?" Asked Ms. Greenway. She was the nurse who was asking as the spokesperson for the panel. I wasn't exactly sure of her title but I knew she had so many credentials behind her name it was longer than her first name, which I couldn't recall at the moment. My mind was turning to mush. All I could think about was Vera and getting her back home.

"Yes."

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too."

_Actually, I'd rather be doing anything else, but you're practically holding Vera hostage so tell me what I have to do to bring her home. I don't have money, but I have a bike…and a…yeah…I got nothing…Crapola!_

"Could you please tell us about the nature of your relationship with Ms. Misham?"

"Sure. I'm Vera's boyfriend. I met her when I was her defense attorney when she was accused of killing her father, but after the trial we remained in touch and became friends and she came to live in my building."

"When did your relationship start?"

"When we met- oh, you mean like when did we start…dating…well, um…we don't really get to date in the traditional sense…because she's under house arrest, you know, but… I became her boyfriend in the spring."

There were some murmurs and the panel members fumbled through some papers.

"Is it true you live with Ms. Misham?"

"Before she came to Sunny River I did. Now I live alone in what was her apartment…without her." I said not even hiding how pathetic this made me feel.

"After Vera was kidnapped she didn't want to be alone…so, I ah… I ended up moving in… because I was there all the time anyways."

_ I sound like an idiot. Quit stammering!_

"What do **you **observe about Vera's mental state?" Asked a grey haired gentleman with perfectly round, thick eyeglasses. He was the patient advocate of the group. I hoped that meant he would be on my side, but I knew there were no guarantees, especially considering the critical look he was giving me as he leaned forward in anticipation of my answer.

"I think she's good with her family."

"By family you mean the Wrights, Maya Fey, and yourself. Is that correct?" Clarified Ms. Greenway.

"Yes."

"Has Vera ever talked to you about suicidal thoughts or tendencies?" The former patient asked.

"No, sir."

"Did she not threaten to kill herself while held by her kidnappers?"

"Oh, yeah. Ok. There's that, but um not when she's at home. I mean that definitely wasn't normal circumstances. I'm not sure anyone acts sane when they're being held like that against their will. I think it's amazing she came out of that whole situation as well as she did."

"Has she ever threatened to hurt herself if you broke up with her?"

"Ah…no."

_Where is this line of questioning going and can I shout "objection"?_

"So, she has never said to you that she doesn't feel like she can live without you?"

"No." _Vera, what did you say to them?_

"We have a quote here from Ms. Misham. 'Apollo is my savior. Without him I don't know what I'd do. I'd probably kill myself.'"

_Crap! Vera, what the hell'd you say that for? Talk about a disturbing form of flattery, sweetie. How can I spin this?_

"I think she just meant that…ah…like song lyrics…poetically." I laughed nervously. "She's not serious. We're fine without one another, just fine. I'm fine. She's fine. We're all fine."

_Crap! We are so __**not**__ fine! Apollo, they're never going to let her leave with you if she's saying stupid things like that. Vera! How could you say that! Please tell me you don't honestly feel that way. I feel like I'm dying whenever you're not around, but I'm not about to go jump off a bridge. Though I have to admit right now I kinda feel like giving up. This is going badly. Very, very badly. I wish Truce were here._

"Really? She said that she wasn't sure she could function without the support of her 'family' and that she feared she might 'go insane' without you."

_Crap! Now I'm going to have to fight to prove we aren't head over heels for one another. How do I get myself into these situations! Well, here goes nothing…_

"Objection! Ms. Misham survived perfectly well for two weeks here without any contact with me."

"Did you **not** bring her flowers everyday?" the patient advocate asked.

"Yeah, but I didn't **see** her or speak with her or anything."

"Mr. Justice, do **you** suffer from depression?" Asked the former patient.

_Yeah, whenever Vera's away…_

"No. Not like something you need medicine for. No clinical depression or anxiety. I get sad sometimes…but I think that's normal you know…"

"Do you and Vera engage in sexual intercourse?" Nurse Greenway asked.

I grimaced. _That's pretty personal and do you have to make it sound so unappealing? "Intercourse" makes me think of doctors doing prostate exams or something…gross!_

The panel members seemed to sense my hesitation. Dr. Jonas just smirked. I had always had a feeling the man enjoyed prying into our personal life for some reason. Maybe when he visited Kristoph in jail they liked to make fun of our sex life or something.

"I'm sorry. I realize that must seem like a terribly personal question, but your relationship with Vera is at the crux of our decision whether or not she can be released."

I nodded and took a deep breath. "Yes. We do or at least we did, but…we haven't made love since before she was kidnapped."

"Oh?"

"We've been taking things slow."

"And how do you feel about that?" Dr. Cleaver asked_._

_Sure, stereotype me. I'm the guy so I must be dying without sex. Well, I am a little, but it's not lack of sex that's killing me. I don't mind that, not really. I wouldn't care if we never did it again, just so long as Vera is free of this place._

"Fine. I'm fine with it. Just fine."

"Really?" I heard one of the panel members murmur.

"Yeah, I don't pressure Vera to do stuff."

_Other than to get the hell out of here, of course._

"Are you aware that Dr. Jonas believes Vera has an abnormal fascination with you?" Nurse Greenway queried.

"Yeah, she's mentioned his theory." I said with a tone of disrespect in my voice. I looked at Dr. Jonas with distaste. All of this was his fault. I still wasn't sure I would be successful in proving it and getting his psychiatry license revoked, but I was determined to try. I hated that guy.

"How do you feel about that?"

"I think Dr. Jonas has never been in love."

Several of the board members laughed, but I didn't intend for my response to be taken as a snappy one-liner. I'm not the kind of person who is clever enough to do stuff like that. That's Klavier. He's such a showman. No, I was being totally serious. I just didn't think people understood me and Vera unless they had experienced those kinds of feelings themselves, the we're-crazy-about-one-another-for-better-or-worse feelings. The she's-the-one-I-want-to-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-with feelings.

"Touche, Mr. Justice."

"But are you also aware that he believes she is fixated on one other individual?" Dr. Cleaver asked.

I shook my head.

_They must mean Phoenix and I can give a million examples to show that he's clearly become a father figure to her. Piece of cake._

Dr. Jonas nodded apparently seeing this as his opportunity to verbalize his theory. "Yes, I believe there is even substantial evidence that she's had sexual relations with him."

I shifted a little in my seat. What were Dr. Jonas and Kristoph up to now? Making it sound like Phoenix was fooling around with Vera?

_Give me a break. Nobody's going to believe that. Phoenix doesn't even look at other women. Maya's everything to him._

"The unhealthy obsession she has with Kristoph Gavin-"

"HOLD IT!" I shouted my objection before I knew what else to say so I just looked dumbfounded and ran my hand through my spikes. Then after a second I shouted, "What in the hell are you insinuating?"

_CRAP! Calm the hell down, Apollo. You're coming off like a crazy person…as per usual._

"We understand that you and Ms. Misham have substantial reasons for disliking Mr. Gavin," explained the nurse. "But in some interviews she seemed to have an infatuation with him like one would have for a captor."

My stomach did a huge flop as the full meaning of their statement hit me. As a child Vera had little contact with the outside world so she liked Kristoph one of the only people she ever saw. He bought her presents. He probably complemented her art. Then she met a lawyer who helped her with her criminal charges and she hooked up with **him**.

"I don't believe that Vera ever…I think she would have told me."

I saw some eyebrows rise on the other side of the table. They obviously were placing me in the sweet, clueless boyfriend category.

But, I wasn't a clueless boyfriend. Vera had never been with anyone besides me, I had no doubt. She couldn't or wouldn't have hidden a secret like that, not from me, but still I had a sick feeling. How had I missed that Vera had been attracted to Kristoph? I never even realized it. Probably it was because by the time we got to the point where I would have even thought about such things he was so obviously evil she would have wanted nothing to do with him, but before he murdered her father?

I could imagine him coming to Drew Studios looking all polished and poised. He would have played the part of a kind gentleman complimenting Vera on her artistic talents and on the tea she served him. She would have been happy to serve him. She would have loved to have anyone from the outside world come to visit and dote on her. And he brought her gifts. Like the dreaded nail polish that almost killed her. He even listened to her fears and concerns like he cared. "This is a good luck charm to protect you from the outside world." That's what he had said as he plotted her death. Yet she was happy to serve him, happy to spend time with him…

I remember Kristoph's charms. He was charismatic with me, too. He even bought **me** presents. One time he gave me this really fancy pen set and when he gave it to me he had made me feel **special**, like I was loved and cared about. Kristoph had sensed the loneliness in my life, too.

The irony being that it was Phoenix who ended up being not only my true mentor but also the person who helped me overcome my feelings of loneliness. He helped me to feel that sense of belonging I wanted and as my mentor he chose to ignore me most of the time when I needed help or advice. And I don't think he ever bought me a present.

I wondered what Kristoph had been playing at with Vera and how long and far he would have let the game go on. What exactly had Kristoph been to Vera? What had he done for her? What void in her life had he worked to fill? And what would have happened if Kristoph had continued to be a part of her life?

I was taking a moment to readjust my thought processes to remember the **old** Vera. A little girl who had never really gotten to experience the world who crushed on the only man she saw…no wonder the panel was having a hard time believing she was ok to come home.

Damn you, Kristoph! It was incredible to me to think just how much havoc one man had created in our lives. Our entire stories would be different were it not for him.

But something odd was going on. I wasn't sure Kristoph was the one calling the shots anymore, because if Dr. Jonas was implicating Kristoph that meant that their partnership, their deal must be off.

_Which means…think, Apollo, think! What does it mean? Who's double crossing whom here?_

It appeared that Dr. Jonas wasn't protecting Kristoph, because it sounded as though he was insinuating something happened before Vera was eighteen…which meant that…Dr. Jonas was trying to save his skin and no longer trying to protect Gavin. This could be for a couple of reasons. They had a falling out or since Gavin was already locked up for life he figured it didn't matter if a statutory rape charge or insinuation got tacked onto his reputation.

It was time to show that I wasn't an **entirely** clueless boyfriend.

_Vera, I'm REALLY, REALLY sorry if this does more harm than good, but I can't have them tossing these accusations around!_

"I find this implication that Kristoph was some kind of child molester interesting since Kristoph and Dr. Jonas are old friends and I have reasons to believe that friendship has caused biases in his opinions about Vera."

"Mr. Justice, I am a professional and I assure you that-"

"That Gavin is no longer paying you to mess with Vera's head? Yeah, I figured that out when you started making false accusations that she slept with him."

The panel members were so flabbergasted they seemed incapable of speech so I hurried on with my theories using my chords of steel to shout over their objections.

"Oh, you think I don't know? Dr. Vicoodous and Dr. Cleaver say that Vera has sensory integration issues, depression, PTSD, and some other crap, but **nobody else** thinks she belongs here. When was her last flashback? Why is she here? She's here because of you." I extended my finger in his direction. "**You** are the one who changed her status after assuring her that she could leave whenever she chose. You betrayed her trust and you have continued to do so over and ove-"

"Mr. Justice, this is not the place for outlandish accusations," said Nurse Greenway.

"No? Because that's exactly what you're getting from him!" I shouted at Dr. Jonas.

"Mr. Justice, it's therapy you need!"

"I want to know why you suddenly think Kristoph was-"

"Well, I'm sure it is difficult for you to accept but Ms. Misham has a problem with promiscuity. While she isn't taking the unnecessary risks we see in patients with a sexual addiction she chooses an individual to worship. Previously it was Mr. Kristoph Gavin and currently it is you. Mr. Justice, you may think what you have with Ms. Misham is real, but it is really an illusion. The two of you are creating an illusion to support a woman who has trouble accepting the hard truths of reality."

"That isn't true and you know it!"

I felt like throwing up. No. It wasn't true. Vera and I had something special because we loved each other not because she chose some kind of male to hero-worship or some crap.

_It's just Jonas. He makes stuff up._

I was grappling for my next move as the panel members were arguing amongst themselves about whether they could even continue when the door to the meeting room swung open and Klavier Gavin burst in.

"Excuse me sir you aren't welcome here this is a confidential medical hearing!"

"Ja. Which is why you don't need this lying sack of shit here. Right, Ema?"

Ema appeared from behind the rock star and before the door could shut she said,

"I'm here to arrest Dr. Jonas for illegally prescribing narcotics, taking bribes, and producing the deadly poison atroquinine"

From somewhere behind Ema and Klavier, Vera ran into the room screaming at Dr. Jonas. She had heard what Ema had said and she was hysterical.

"It was you? You killed my dad!" She screamed as she flew at him. Her face was almost as red as my suit and her hands were ready to claw at him. I had never seen her so angry or violent and for **once** I found myself holding **her** back. For once I was the calm one and, of course, it was in front of the panel deciding Vera's fate, but the revelation that Dr. Jonas had somehow been integral in the plot that almost killed Vera and killed her father was too great a revelation for me to even worry about the stupid panel's decision anymore. I was too stunned. I had never thought Dr. Jonas was that involved in Kristoph's evil plans.

"Scientifically speaking mental health is about the inner working's of various neurotransmitters in your brain. It's quite a complex process so Dr. Jonas what's wrong with **your** head that you thought you'd get away with this? Huh?"

The board stood up.

Klavier Gavin walked over to them and spread his arms as though addressing a room full of his fangirls. "Ladies and gentleman of the board I am SO sorry to have interrupted this important meeting but it has come to my attention as the manager of my incarcerated brother's bank accounts that several thousand dollars a month was being transferred to Dr. Jonas account from Kristoph Gavin's account. As soon as I became aware of this I cancelled the transferal of money and obtained a warrant to figure out exactly what kind of service this was payment for…and the only thing I have been able to ascertain at this time is that the payments began when Ms. Misham's therapy started. Odd, isn't it? But I did find-" I heard Ema grumble at his choice of pronoun.

"Substantial evidence at his home that he has been illegally proscribing opioids and that he appears to have a pharmacy for making rather dangerous poisons." He handed the panel a paper that looked like a bank statement. "Here is a copy of my brother's bank statement should you find it important for any reason. Come on Ema. Let's let these fine people get back to work."

I didn't know what to say. "Klavier…"

He leaned over me and Vera and smiled.

"I believe the words you're looking for are 'rock on', Herr Forehead. And yes, I will continue to rock on. Isn't that right, Fraulein?"

Ema shot him daggers with her eyes, obviously wishing she could snackoo him, but her hands were busy holding the cuffed psychiatrist. Klavier chuckled and laid his hand on my shoulder and whispered in my ear, "Herr Forehead, you should have told me more about what was going on. It isn't only the Wrights who care about you and Fraulein, after all." He winked at me and patted Vera on the head and then he was gone in that special way he has of making a flashy entrance and then seemingly vanishing into thin air.

Once Trucy had told me that seeing Klavier was like looking directly at the sun. I had thought at the time it was one of her crazy fangirl comments, but at that moment I knew what she meant. We were all standing there blinking in confusion as though we had all just stared into the sun.

_What just happened?_

I looked down at Vera and saw that even though her face was tear-streaked she was smiling.

"I love you, Polly."

"Love you, too, sweetie."

The hearing was supposedly still going on, but in actuality it was in shambles and Vera and I weren't paying any attention to anybody else. I was vaguely aware that Phoenix was near the door with Truce and Maya and that the board members were standing around the table in shock, but I had only eyes for Vera. I put a hand on either side of her face and kissed her.

"Whatever happens it'll get better now."

She nodded.

Then we heard someone clearing their throat as a less than subtle sign that we were to come to order…or at least quit kissing in the middle of the hearing. It was Nurse Greenway who was looking very frazzled.

"Well, as I'm sure Mr. Justice would remind us, all individuals are innocent until proven guilty, **but** in light of the information provided to us by Prosecutor Gavin I believe for the purposes of this hearing any testimony from Dr. Jonas regarding Ms. Misham should be disregarded and…" She let out a massive sigh. "I believe we could all use a half hour break to regroup before proceeding."


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

During the break in the hearing, Vera and I went to talk alone in the Sunny River courtyard, but I didn't really know what to say.

"So, all this time he was the one who made the poison that almost killed me."

I nodded. It sure looked that way.

She walked over to a little concrete wall that lined a bed of purple flowers.

_How can she always find lavender?_

I couldn't guess what she was thinking or feeling, but she sat down and opened her art pad and began sketching.

"I'm starting to wish I had just let you steal me away, Polly."

I sat down beside her. "No, you were right. We can't go running off. Our friends are here. And the board hasn't made their decision yet."

Her eyes rose up from the sketch she was working on and laughed but it wasn't her usual cheerful giggle. It was melancholy and hollow. "You don't really think they're going to let me out of here now do you?"

I dodged the question. "I know that I'm no longer going to be barred from seeing you."

"I really messed things up didn't I?" She looked on the verge of crying again, but she didn't. Instead, her pencil moved more vigorously shading whatever it was that she was drawing.

"No. Vera you've just had a lot of bad stuff happen to you. It's not your fault…but Vera there is something I need you to do for me."

Her pencil stopped and she gave me her full attention. The fact I needed her to do something for **me** had made her collect herself.

"Anything, Polly." She was determined to help me in whatever way she could.

"You need to tell me you'd be ok without me."

Vera looked down at a crack in the sidewalk. It was suddenly more interesting than my face.

"You aren't breaking up with me are you?"

"No! But Vera, I need to feel like if something happened to me that you would know how to be all right. That you'd talk to somebody or…something."

"Would **you** be ok without me?"

_Damn it. She's getting good at turnabouts, too._

I sighed. "No, probably not," I admitted kicking a little pebble that happened to be on the concrete. "But just tell me you'd be ok."

She grinned a little. "Polly, I would be ok. I promise. I would be angry and sad but I would just make Mr. Phoenix and Maya take care of me."

I nodded. That sounded ok. Actually, that was pretty much **my** plan, which meant that if she had dibs on the Wrights I'd end up crying on the shoulders of Ema and/or Klavier.

I really hope that man is only kidding when he flirts with me…

But at any rate, it didn't sound too much unlike what I supposed most people would do if they broke up with someone they loved. I didn't really know. But there was definitely nothing in there about jumping off bridges, throwing oneself in front of a bus, or downing a bunch of pills, so I figured it was good enough.

"Is that acceptable, Mr. Justice?"

"Yeah. I suppose so. It's not like it's something I **want** to think about." I wrapped my arms around her and she leaned against me.

"Whatcha drawing?" I asked.

She held the drawing pad above her head so it was in front of my face. She had sketched a little sparrow in one of the courtyard trees.

"It's pretty."

"Yeah. I like them. I watch them from my window here, but my room doesn't look out on the courtyard so I miss out on seeing all these pretty flowers."

She ran her hand over the purple flowers.

"What's your favorite flower, Polly?"

"Am I supposed to have a favorite?"

Vera giggled. "Why do manly men not get to like flowers?"

I laughed. "No, but I dropped out of my botany class in college cause I was so bad at it." She smirked at me. She obviously didn't believe me.

"I'm serious."

She giggled some more, at my expense, of course. "Polly, you passed advanced chemistry and graduated law school, but flunked out of botany?"

I shrugged. "I guess I like some things to remain a mystery."

I kissed her neck. This was nice. This was how I wanted it to be all the time. It didn't even feel like we were still in the hospital. Sitting under the big willow tree with her surrounded by the little lavender flowers I was **incredibly** happy. It was then I realized this was the closest I had ever gotten to being in a park with her. I vowed to myself that someday we'd go to the park all the time. We'd have picnics and walk and do stuff I bet Vera had never gotten to do, like play Frisbee, fly a kite, or fish. Though I suspected she wouldn't actually enjoying catching a fish. She wouldn't have the heart to kill it and Henry the Magnificent was like one of her best pals.

Sometimes we'd go by ourselves, just the two of us. Other times we'd have everybody join us. I could imagine it perfectly. Trucy would be explaining in detail to her dad why it was no longer permissible to feed bread to the ducks in the lake and Maya would be whacking him in the arm saying that he was an old man for not realizing you shouldn't feed wildlife and Vera would sit and draw the ducks or the clouds and I would eat my weight in sandwiches and chips and then somehow miraculously find room for ice cream and Trucy would not be allowed to make me choke on it. It would be great.

Sure, sitting here in the courtyard was only a sliver of that fantasy, but it was still great.

_I could sit like this forever. Vera and me together_…and then my phone started vibrating.

_Damn it._ I groaned and looked down to find a text from Trucy.

_The board is reconvening. You better get back here with Vera ASAP._

"We gotta go back. Truce says everybody's reassembling."

"Polly, kiss me."

I smiled. That I could do. I couldn't bring her dad back. I couldn't make the board say she was sane. I couldn't do a lot of things I wished I could for her, but I could kiss her and love her.

"Sweetie, it'll be ok one way or another, I promise."

She nodded and took my hand and I led her back into the hospital that I wished we could both run away from.


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

Three days later, Vera stepped out from behind those dreaded double doors and into the lobby of the Sunny River Mental Health Facility. She had finally been cleared to leave. I saw her scan the lobby and lower her head slightly probably out of embarrassment that everyone was looking at her. Even the employees had stopped to watch her leave. Sadly, Sunny River wasn't a place many people went home from. I walked over and tipped her head up and gave her a kiss. I didn't care who was looking. I didn't care if we were blocking the fire exit. I didn't care about anything. She was finally coming home. I felt the urge to pick her up and spin her around I was so happy and so, so relieved, but, instead I just handed her the white rose I had for her and she smiled. She would probably never want to see another white rose after this experience.

Phoenix was nice enough to go to the pharmacy to pick up all of Vera's medications so she and I could go directly home. I don't know how busy Vera's day had been, but mine had been a nightmare. I had spent most of the day on and off the phone with Ema, Klavier, and the Psychiatry Board trying to coordinate all the evidence we had collected that proved Dr. Jonas not only violated the Psychiatric Practice Act and the good ole concept of "do no harm" but also at least a half dozen laws as well.

At one point, Ema stopped by the office to pummel me with snackoos and inform me that the list of charges against Dr. Jonas had grown to fifteen. She had been very pleased with herself about this until I made the mistake of pointing out that this would mean that the media would get all in a tizzy about the case and Vera would again be thrust into the limelight against her will. I was in no way criticizing Ema, just merely thinking out loud, but it pissed Ema off and after showering me with a bunch more snackoos had stormed out of my office in a huff. If I hadn't known better I might have thought Ema was jealous of how much I talk about Vera, but I knew there was no way Ema was into me. She was still working to overcome her crush on Phoenix, which for all our sakes I hoped she could fully recover from by the time Nick and Maya got married.

After Ema left I started arranging for more privacy of Vera's sensitive medical information and then the reporters started calling for statements…and well, it was a long day and I was exhausted when we went to pick Vera up at Sunny River.

~xxxx~

Vera and I walked in the door of our apartment and her face lit up.

"Henry!" She ran over to her fish and smiled at him through the glass. I wondered if I was doing the right thing. I knew I loved her, but she did seem kind of childlike in a way…and not in the cute, spunky way Maya did. Were some of the things Dr. Jonas said true? I mean he was a psychiatrist and even though he had been being bribed by "the devil" maybe everything he was concerned about wasn't a complete fabrication.

I had felt so sure just a few days ago, but over the last twenty-four hours the nagging doubts about whether I had moved too fast with Vera came back with a vengeance.

I gulped. I was in this too deep to quit loving her. Hell, I'd loved her from the moment I met her. She was like nobody else. For me it was her or no one. I slumped on the couch. I was exhausted. If I could just get some sleep I was sure I would feel better and shake this feeling. I closed my eyes and drifted off as I listened to the sound of Vera chatting to Henry.

"Polly?" I opened my eyes and saw Vera leaning over me. I must have been asleep for longer than I had thought because she had taken a shower or a bath in the meantime. Her hair was wrapped in a towel and she was wearing her butterfly bathrobe.

"Come to bed with me, okay?"

I nodded. I was wiped. I got up and walked into the bedroom. It was super early in the evening but I hadn't slept well the night before and so I flopped onto our bed with every intention of not moving again until the next morning. Vera lay down beside me.

"Polly, are you mad at me?"

"No."

I didn't really want to talk about what I was feeling.

"You're worried that some of what Dr. Jonas said is true aren't you?"

_Damn, she's way too good at reading my mind. She should team up with Trucy and take their show on the road. I can see it now, "Magic Panties, Mind Reading and Beautiful Girls." Ugh._ I was too tired to deal with any more of this.

I just kind of stared at the ceiling. No, it couldn't be true, but I found myself worrying about it anyways.

"Polly, do you honestly believe that you're bad for me? If it weren't for you and your family I'd either be in jail or at Drew Studios all alone and depressed."

"Vera, this whole time you were away I spent the entire time thinking how to get you back and now…"

"You don't want me…"

"NO! I just feel like I still haven't given you enough of a chance to meet other people. I mean if you had a crush on Kristoph then maybe you do just like whoever you're around."

The glare I got back from her told me she did not appreciate my comment. "Polly, you need to accept the fact I've chosen to be with you and that I'm a grown woman and am capable of making my own decisions. I **did** have a crush on Kristoph, when I was **little**. You know how charming he could **seem** to be. You were under his spell at one point too, as you may recall."

"I wasn't under enough of a spell to sleep with him."

Vera's hand came so fast I never even saw it. All I felt was the smarting on the side of my face afterward.

_Oh, no! No, no, no, you dumbass! How could you say that to her?_

"I never slept with him! And don't pretend that you never liked anyone before me. I've never been upset about what you did before you met me or who you did it with. I chose to be with you. I gave my virginity to you. You jerk! Now I almost wish I hadn't."

Vera flew out of the room and out of the apartment. I was right behind her. Unfortunately for her, I knew there was only one place she could flee to even if she were wearing shoes, which she wasn't.

She ran into the office and right into Trucy.

"Oh, my God! Vera what's wrong?"

Phoenix and Maya poked their heads out from the kitchen and only had time to take a quick glance at Vera and me before Vera ran into Phoenix's arms almost knocking him over. My eyes shot daggers his way. This was great, just great. I loved Vera more than anything and she was snuggling up in **Phoenix's** arms because she was mad at **me.**

"Vera? What's wrong?" He asked.

"Polly thinks I slept with Kristoph."

Every eye in the place turned to me in disgust, except, of course, for the eyes belonging to the love of my life because **she** was refusing to lift her head out of Phoenix's chest.

"Vera, I **didn't** say that!"

"Polly, how could you believe that?" Trucy shouted at me. "What has gotten into you? You're acting like a jerk!"

"Hey. Hey. None of that now." Maya ordered. "I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding. We've all had a long and stressful day. Everybody just needs to calm down. I'll make us all some tea and we can talk about this. Apollo, sit down."

I continued standing.

"**SIT DOWN, APOLLO**." I had never heard Phoenix use that tone of voice with me. I realized he was **really** mad at me, probably even madder than Vera. It was then I realized something about him. It doesn't matter how good a friends you are with Phoenix, you upset one of his girls and he gets **pissed**. I was his best friend, probably, but it didn't matter. I had made Vera cry and he and I both knew that wasn't ok.

I slumped into the couch. I felt like a little kid who was in the process of getting grounded. I needed to talk to Vera not have the entire family have a conference about my ill behavior, but it appeared I was to be given no choice other than to endure the public humiliation of talking it out with her in front of everyone.

"Vera, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

Phoenix was still glaring at me. Usually he was my ally, but not this time.

Vera pulled her head from Phoenix's chest just enough so she could look at me when she spoke. "I can't believe you would ever think that. Do you think I'll just do it with anyone? Aren't you going to ask Phoenix if I screwed him, too?"

I put my head in my hands. How exactly had I gone from freeing my girlfriend from the mental hospital to having a very public fight over who she had sex with?

"Vera, come with me upstairs and let's talk about this. I didn't mean to insinuate-"

"But, you **did** Polly. **You did**!"

**I** was crying now. I felt so angry and it was me against everybody else. Or so I thought, but when Maya came back from the kitchen with a tray of Vera's favorite tea the future Mrs. Wright made a point of sitting next to me. Maya put her hand gently on my knee and glancing at her I realized that thankfully somebody believed I wasn't a totally horrible, evil person and that made me feel a little better.

"Vera, I'm crazy about you. You know that. I'm just…scared. What that jerk said-"

"Plays on your insecurities?"

I shrugged. "Yeah. You know I worry that I'm not being fair to you."

"Polly, how many times do I have to tell you that I love you?"

In retrospect this was a damn embarrassing conversation to have in front of everybody else, but I didn't really care. This was one of those relationship-ending arguments. I had to get her to realize I didn't want to fight. All I wanted was to go to bed…to sleep.

"Vera, I know what Polly said was dumb." Maya twisted her face into a moronic looking expression and then looked me in the eyes. "But, Polly freaks out about things because he cares about you so much. He's like Nick. You gotta learn how to keep them in line and figure that sometimes guys say and do dumb things." Then she punched me in the leg.

_Gee,_ _thanks, Maya. I think._

"I guess you're right, Maya. You tell me all the time about the stupid things Mr. Phoenix does."

It was then Phoenix's eyes met mine and I saw him returning to siding with me.

_Women._

Trucy smiled. "So let me clarify. Kristoph got no action from anyone here." Everyone present made faces like we had all just sucked on lemons and then she continued. "And Daddy and Polly are really bad with women and can be extremely insensitive."

Maya nodded, a broad smile on her face. "Good." She clasped her hands together in front of her. "Now, Vera, how about we trade places so I can soothe Nick's wounded ego? I can tell I've hurt his feelings." She winked at him and Phoenix rolled his eyes as Vera released her hold on him.

Vera left Phoenix's side and came into my arms.

"I'm sorry Polly, but, **please**, never ever act like that about Kristoph."

I nodded and kissed the top of her head. "I'm really sorry, sweetie. It doesn't matter what you did before and I know you didn't. I didn't mean it like that, I was just being stup-"

"Oh, but Polly you're right. I probably would have!" And she burst into tears anew her head deeply buried in my chest.

"No, Vera." I ran my hand through her wet hair pulling it away from her face. "You wouldn't have. You believed in waiting until you got marr-"

_Oh, crap! Sure, point out that she always told her dad she'd wait until marriage, till of course, you two started dating and messed around your first weekend together… Brilliant, Apollo. Brilliant. I'm sure that'll make her feel loads better._

"Here let me get you some more tea." Yes, it was a ploy to get away before I even more firmly planted my foot in my mouth. I needed to clear my head. Desperately. But something kept nagging at my brain. A memory buried somewhere…a memory from what seemed like a different existence, a time before the Wrights, magicians, spirit channeling, and love.

My boss, Kristoph Gavin, at a department store in the jewelry department looking at rings. I was there to buy a pair of cuff links. I only had one pair and I'd lost one somehow and the whole firm had to go to a formal dinner so I needed a tie tack and cuff links. Kristoph had made it clear I was to not only look presentable but well-to-do. So I had headed to the nearest department store to spend what little money I had on what I considered to be unnecessary accessories and there was Gavin looking at what were **clearly** diamond engagement rings. I had debated about saying hello, but had thought better of it. And after a day or so of pondering who Kristoph was popping the question to I found myself embroiled in the case from hell with my idol, Phoenix Wright, as the defendant and I forgot all about Mr. Gavin's jewelry purchase.

I peered out of the kitchenette at Vera. Would he really have used her like that? But who **else** could it have been for? Phoenix came into the hallway and disappeared into his bedroom and emerged from it with a bottle of liquor.

"Hand that coffee over," he said winking at me as he sloshed a large shot of whiskey into my cup and grabbed one for himself.

"You're not still mad at me are you?" I asked nervously.

"Naw, but that was pretty stupid, Apollo."

"Well, I never said I thought they actually did it…" I trailed off. I didn't need my bracelet to tell me Kristoph and her had never been together. I knew it, but would he have tried to? Wanted to?

"Phoenix, you and Kristoph were friends, right?"

"Sort-of, yeah."

"Right before Trucy's dad got killed did Kristoph have a girlfriend I didn't know about?"

Phoenix shook his head. "No. That would have taken a heart." The hatred in his voice was undisguisable.

I glanced at Vera again and took a swig of my homemade coffee liquor. "Phoenix, I think he was going to ask Vera to marry him."

Phoenix laughed. "Maybe Dr. Jonas was right about you. You do need therapy. And Maya teases me about **my** conspiracy theories."

"Phoenix, I saw him buying a diamond engagement ring not more than two or three days before Zak was murdered. If he hadn't of ended up in jail I think he would have asked her."

"Apollo, it's quite a leap to assume that the ring was for Vera. He never touched her. She's like half his age."

"I know, but I saw the ring. It wasn't something you buy your mom or secretary. It was a wedding ring."

Phoenix sipped at his drink. "And why would Kristoph want to marry Vera? Well…besides…" His speech stumbled awkwardly. "The** obvious **reason."

"It would have given him the perfect excuse to have even more access to their life. Then he could have poisoned them both and made it look like some murder suicide pact or something. He could have easily accomplished what he wanted to do seven years earlier."

Phoenix was making a face. It could have been the alcohol, but I suspected not. "So you're telling me that he was going to marry her and get her and her dad to move in with him or something and then bump both of them off?"

"When he tired of her." I was staring down into my mug. I could imagine Vera naively doing anything and everything Kristoph told her to do believing all the while that he loved her when all he was doing was using her. It was an evil idea and if he hadn't planned it and my imagination had come up with it all on it's own I thought I must be a little sick in the head.

Phoenix laid a hand on my shoulder. His eyes revealed that he agreed with me. "Apollo, don't tell her, Ok? She has a lot of guilt about how she felt about Kristoph and she shouldn't. It was just a crush. It was normal."

I nodded.

"But what about **me**? Is what they said about her true?"

"No, if it were **I'd** have a harem." He winked at me and I groaned, but he had a point. He had known her a lot longer than me and she obviously considered him a hero to her as well. So what if she painted all my cases underneath her forgeries? Phoenix was way more charismatic than me. I was a bumbling idiot around her.

"Polly, what's taking so long with the tea?" Vera called.

"Yeah, hurry up! We want to watch the Steel Samurai."

"That's not a good way to entice us to hurry up," Phoenix shouted from the kitchen. He ducked just in time to avoid being hit by one of our throw pillows that I'm assuming Maya threw at him.

I laughed.

"Apollo, I know things are tough with Vera sometimes, but don't give up. At least you don't have a SAMURI FREAK!" He shouted over his shoulder so that Maya would be sure to hear him. He and I both knew that Maya had already made herself comfortable on the couch and that meant she would not be getting up unless there was a fire. Therefore, this was his time to tease her without fear of being hit.

"Watch what you say about me, Old Man!" She shouted back at him happily.

Phoenix and I stepped out of the kitchen with our extra large coffees with their special kick and more tea for Vera and joined the rest of our family in a peaceful night of watching TV.

I pulled Vera close to me and I told myself that what's in the past is in the past. Kristoph's evil intentions didn't really matter, because life had foiled his plot and now he was behind bars. Maybe some higher power was looking out for her. It seemed hard to believe what with her father being killed, but she **was** the **only** person to have survived that severe an atroquinine ingestion. And weren't we both lucky that Klavier was willing to help us even when it meant implicating his own brother?

Then I realized that maybe it wasn't that a higher power was looking out for **her**. Maybe it was looking out for **me**. I mean, after all, I was the one who had been sent an angel. A woman who was exceedingly patient with me as I bumbled through my first real relationship. A woman who always seemed to know what I was thinking even when I couldn't find the words to verbalize it myself. A woman who made even the simple things like colors and textures seem grand and mysterious. A woman who made me value everything in my life just a little bit more even routine moments like this, when I was just watching TV with the family.

I smiled and finally felt relaxed. We were all back together again just like we should be. Sitting there half asleep I found myself getting sucked into Neo Olde Tokyo and when I glanced down to make sure Vera was comfortable, I found that she was sound asleep with her head on my shoulder.

_Good night, angel. Sorry your hero is a jerk sometimes. I'll try harder. I promise._

~xxxx~

The next morning I woke up still on the couch in the office with Vera still asleep nestled against me. She was beautiful.

"Good morning." Phoenix whispered.

"You're up early." I commented.

"No, you're sleeping in late. I'd hate to think what a client would think if they came in. I thought about taking both of you up to bed, but I draw the line at carrying guys to bed. That's how rumors start."

I slid myself out from under Vera. "Wow. Did she really sleep all night?"

Phoenix nodded.

That was the first sign that her new meds were helping her and slowly as time went on she continued to improve. And I stuck to my promise until our next big fight, but that is another story…

THE END

Risenfromash: The next portion(s) of my Polly/Vera story arc were written months ago so the next several tales about them will be posted really soon, because unlike Stolen Angel and Flashback I'm not writing as I go. I have a lot in store for them, but fortunately I think the other parts are more humorous and more readable. We'll see what you think. Thanks for reading and giving feedback!


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